Riptide
by AG23746
Summary: Nico, Percy, Annabeth and Grover have been assigned a quest. To destroy all of Voldemort's horcruxes and bring him to the Underworld, where he belonged a long time ago. Also, there are a few other demigods at Hogwarts who Percy has to get safely back to Camp Half Blood. Think they can successfully complete this quest?
1. The Quest

**RIPTIDE**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

 **Note: They are all sixteen years of age. Percy defeated Kronos on his birthday, August 18, and this story begins on 1** **st** **September, the beginning of the Hogwarts school year. Draco Malfoy has been made a Death Eater, and it is their sixth year at Hogwarts.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1:**

 _What am I doing here?_

That was the only thought that swirled around Nico's brain – quite an achievement for someone with ADHD. He knew the answer to that question, of course, even though he barely understood it. He was currently on a plane to England; which in itself was pretty amazing, since he'd never even thought of being up in the sky, what with an uncle who would be eager to blast him into a million pieces out of his domain. Just this once, though, he'd been given a special permission by Zeus, the God of the Sky, in order to complete the quest bestowed upon him: bring Tom Marvolo Riddle to the Underworld, where he should have been a long time ago.

His father was bursting with fury at this. That man had thought that splitting his soul into pieces would save him from death, from the Underworld. He believed it would grant him immortality and Nico was so disgusted by his utter _foolishness_ that he figured the guy might have dung for brains. It was a coward's exit through and through, and it made him disrespect the guy even more so.

His sentiments might be reflected in his father too, because, in his rage, the Lord of the Dead recruited the Ghost King to bring Tom Marvolo Riddle's long-overdue soul to the Underworld. Hades had even called to the other Gods for help. In retrospect, it seemed to be one of Hades' better plans, since for the first time in a millennia, the Gods were on the same side.

And so, some of the Gods had granted him special powers, which he could use in times of great need, as the enemy was a powerful one, and not easily destructible. Zeus had, as mentioned above, allowed him to travel by air, along with anyone who accompanied him on his quest. Poseidon had granted him a pearl from the ocean, using which he could breathe underwater any time it was absolutely needed. Aphrodite gave him some berries, strictly forbidding him from eating them, which could be used to make anyone fall in love. Hades, his own father, granted him the power to create an earth-quake felt only by the person Nico wanted. Athena had given him a mirror and told him it will show him the right path when he needed guidance the most.

Armed with the powers and weapons he'd been given, Nico began his quest along with Percy, Annabeth and Grover. Of course, he was supposed to take only two along with him, but he had the gut feeling that he had to take them all along. Besides, Percy himself was on a quest to bring a few demigods back to camp, one who just happened to go to Hogwarts.

And so, here they were. Beside him, Percy was clutching tightly onto the armrest of his seat, muttering profanities and prayers under his breath. Nico couldn't really blame him as he himself was longing to do the same. Annabeth, seated beside Percy, was lightly stroking his back in a comforting manner, and reading a magazine about the architecture in England. Grover was seated in the seat on another column, the passageway in the middle, separating his seat from theirs. He was munching on some enchiladas he'd been lucky enough to get on the plane, enjoying every bite of it.

The speaker blaring to life shook them from their respective activities, announcing they were about to land. Hearing Percy breathe a sigh of mind-numbing relief, Annabeth smiled slightly, careful not to offend him. Nico sighed too, glad to be off this damn plane as fast as possible.

His wish was granted, as they were soon making their way across the airport, Annabeth in the lead and Grover bringing up the rear. Quickly, they managed to spot Hermes, who was in charge of taking them to King's Cross Station to board the train to the school they were going to attend.

As they travelled by car all the way to King's Cross, Nico fingered the wand he had in his pocket all along. He'd learnt how to use it, of course, all of them had, but he couldn't help wondering that a sword and a shield would beat that lousy piece of wood any time of the day. He would completely suck at a fight with a wand as his only weapon.

They went over each of their alibis, just to make sure they remembered all the details, and made their way out of the car, once they were all done, having reached King's Cross station.

King's Cross station was a huge structure, buzzing with activity. People strode about, running to catch a last minute train. Dozens of teenagers dragged around their trolleys laden with trunks, some even carrying cages containing owls of all sizes hooting disdainfully at being stuffed into their cages again.

Hermes cleared his throat loudly, bringing their attention back onto him. He handed each of them a small ticket, nodded his head and waved his hand in farewell, his parting words ringing in their ears. "Try not to get yourself killed, and while you're at it, try to have some fun too. Good luck! You're going to need it."

They watched the car drive away. Nico saw Annabeth smiling. "That was sweet of him."

Nico nodded slightly, used to being treated only in an unfriendly manner by the Gods. Especially Hermes, who liked to play pranks on him more than anything. Looking at his ticket, he thought, _Yep. Another prank. Platform 9 ¾, honestly!_

Annabeth's smile melted away when she saw the ticket too. "Oh. That's weird." She said.

Percy eyed his ticket, before deciding that Hermes wouldn't play a trick on them, at least not now. "Let's go stand by the barrier between platforms nine and ten and see if we can find any witches or wizards going onto that platform. If we do, we'll just follow them."

"Good idea." Grover said, already walking over to the barrier. "I really do hope we find some witches or wizards soon."

Grover had been the most excited to go to Hogwarts, the school for witches and wizards. He'd heard a lot about that school, and had been absolutely fascinated with it all.

Pretty soon, they saw a few really strangely dressed people power-walking towards the barrier and then straight into it and blinked in shock when they seemed to vaporize into thin air. "Bla-ha-ha!" Grover bleated. "Come on!"

Following their example, the four of them did the same and found themselves on an entirely different platform, facing a scarlet steam train. _The Hogwarts Express._

"My heart stopped beating for a second back there." Percy panted, like he'd been walking for miles. "I thought we were going to become demigod pancakes."

Annabeth laughed nervously, looking back at the barrier behind them as more people appeared, looking none for the worse, and not looking disturbed by that at all.

The blow of the horn from the train startled them, and they turned around to complete chaos at the station. The train was about to leave and children scrambled around to get onto it, parents waving tearful goodbyes and the like.

"Come on." Nico yelled, making a mad dash for one of the doors of the train, the other three hot on his trail. "We'll miss the train if we don't hurry."

A mad stampede ensued and they found themselves heaving, leaning heavily onto the door and glad that they'd not missed the train. Once they'd caught their breath, they hurried along the corridor, looking for any compartment that would host all of them together. 'Course, there wasn't much hope since they'd come in late, but whatever.

Eventually, at the very back of the train, just when they'd lost all hopes that they would get a compartment, they found one, housing only one other person. Nico slid open the compartment door, and glanced warily at the boy slumped across the seat.

"Can we sit here?" he asked. "Everywhere else is full."

The boy barely spared him a glance. Instead, he waved his hand in a dismissive manner, which could either be a yes or a no. choosing to view it as an invitation to share the compartment, Nico entered and sat down by the door. Percy, Annabeth and Grover followed suit.

"Thanks." Percy said to the boy, who just nodded.

He had striking white-blond hair and a pale, pointed face with high cheek bones, Nico noted. He also had a melancholy expression on his face, an emotion Nico knew all too well. He looked like a lost soul, just drifting along, not knowing where he was meant to go.

The boy must have sensed his gaze on him, because he turned to glare half-heartedly at him, before stopping short. He glanced at each of them in turn, eyeing them suspiciously. His hand flew to his robe pocket, where, Nico presumed, he kept his wand. He tensed.

"Who are you?" The boy asked waspishly. "I've never seen you at Hogwarts before, and you seem to be in sixth year. Same as me. What are you doing here?"

Percy tensed too, right alongside Nico. "Hey, dude." Percy said, arms raised in a surrender- motion. "I'm Percy. Nico is my brother and those two are our cousins. We were home-schooled and now our parents decided that we had best go to an actual school, since the teachers were no good. So they sent us here, the best school there is for witches and wizards." He explained, just as they'd planned to tell.

Backing down slightly, the boy frowned then nodded grudgingly, not able to find anything wrong with their story.

Catching on, Annabeth continued. "I'm Annabeth, this is Grover and that's Nico." She introduced each of them, and turned expectantly to the boy.

He stared back at her until he realised he was supposed to introduce himself too. "Malfoy. I'm Draco Malfoy." He said, with a smug air that seemed forced. "Have you been sorted into your houses yet?"

Nico glanced nervously at the others, wondering what he meant. Chiron hadn't told them anything about being sorted into houses. What were they supposed to say?

Thankfully, Annabeth cleared it up for them. "No, we haven't. They said that we'll be sorted right alongside the first years."

The boy – Draco- nodded at this. "Yeah, that seems likely." Then, without preamble, he turned back to staring out of the window like he'd been doing before they'd turned up, ignoring them throughout the rest of the ride.

Nico shrugged at the other three, before turning to look out the window himself. Annabeth grabbed a book on architecture and began reading it intensely, eyes glued to the book. Percy decided that a nap was the best he could do at the moment, especially since it was the curse of Achilles he had to endure until eternity. They only got up from their places when they had to change into the school robes (Nico thought they looked disgusting and it took Percy, Annabeth and Grover's combined efforts to get him to wear it).

Time flew by mischievously fast, and sooner than he'd anticipated, Nico found himself staring at a pretty huge man who half smelled of monsters. Draco waved a half-hearted goodbye to them and walked off to the carriages which were drawn by skeletal horses. Thestrals, he remembered they were called, an ancient species of pegasi native to the underworld, although how that came to be he had no idea. As far as he knew, they were the only creatures native to the Underworld that were in any way, shape or form, gentle.

Stroking one of the Thestrals gently on its head, Nico fed it an apple which he had in his robe pocket. Feeling a little more better about this place now that he had a few companions who were native to the Underworld just like him, Nico left the Thestral's side, and got onto the boat that would take them across the lake.

"Don' yer worry. Yer will do great." The monstrous man, who'd introduced himself as Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts, tried to reassure them, looking pretty friendly. "Now off yer go."

For the first time since they'd started the quest, Nico felt excited about something.

* * *

The last things Nico saw were Percy, Annabeth and Grover's anxious faces as the rim of the hat covered his eyes.

"I see." It whispered in his head, startling him. "Darkness and despair runs through your veins. I see a thirst for revenge and remorse for your actions as well. Bitterness for being treated as an outcast and hints of betrayal for your own gain. Hmm. But then, Nico di Angelo, you have great loyalty, love and friendship for all you hold dear. Yes, I know. You will be good for this house just as it will be good for you. Better be SLYTHERIN!"

The hat shouted the last word so that everyone present could hear and the students sitting at one of the tables burst into applause and catcalls, and, assuming that to be the Slytherin table, Nico headed that way, glancing nervously at his three friends.

He went and sat at the table, a little away from everyone else, not sure whether he was welcome there or not. He wasn't used to people rooting for him and just assumed that their shouts of glee were just customary for every person who went to that house. He was so busy eyeing everyone at his table, that he almost missed Annabeth's name being called out.

He turned sharply to see Annabeth being sorted into Ravenclaw house, followed by Percy who went to Gryffindor and then Grover who got Hufflepuff. _Great! Now what are we supposed to do, being divided into separate houses?_ He sighed dejectedly. He'd been hoping at least one of them will be in the same house as him, but no such luck.

"Nico." Snapping out of his reverie, Nico swivelled around to see Draco Malfoy seated across from him, and wondered just how he'd got there. He wasn't there a second ago. "Look, I don't know who you are, but there is something different about you and your friends over there. I can sense that. Whatever you're up to, you'll not succeed. Mark my words. I'll be watching you."

Nico raised his eyebrow at the pale boy before him. Obviously, the stupid boy didn't know just who he was or he wouldn't be issuing these threats, but he decided to patronise him.

"Sure. Keep yapping. I couldn't be bothered talking to dogs anyway." Nico retorted, looking supremely unconcerned.

Draco only glared sharply at him (Nico was sure if _he_ were to glare sharply at the other boy, he just might wet his pants and run away screaming bloody murder) and turned to his plate which had magically been filled.

Nico raised an eyebrow at the variety of food and looked around for a brazier, before realising that there probably wasn't one, considering everyone had already begun stuffing their faces. _What in Hades do I do now,_ Nico wondered. He was sure that they wouldn't be excused from sacrificing food to the Gods just because there was no brazier. He looked up to see Percy, Annabeth and Grover glancing nervously at him. Clearly, they'd surmised the problem as well.

 _Oh well,_ Nico thought, setting down his fork and knife _, Guess I've got to sleep on a hungry stomach._ He just shrugged helplessly at them as he watched them dejectedly put down their forks and knives. He understood their plight, the food looked good enough to be licked off the plate, after all.

"Hey." Nico glanced up to see a dark skinned boy sitting across from him and beside Malfoy. "Nico di Angelo, right? I'm Blaise Zabini."

"Hey. Yeah, that's me." Nico smiled tentatively at him.

"How is it that you joined now?" he asked, looking mildly curious. "You and those friends of yours."

"Well," Nico began to tell him just as they'd told Draco and just like Dumbledore, the Headmaster, had informed the rest of the school.

"Interesting." Blaise said once Nico had finished telling his tale. "Now, how about you tell me the real deal? Because, you know what? I don't believe in that nonsense and neither does Draco. Tell us, who are you really? You don't seem like a wizard to us and your friends don't either."

Nico tensed up immediately. Who were these guys? Were they monsters in disguise or something? Did they know who they really were or could they see past the mist like Rachel Elizabeth Dare could? Should he warn the others?

He quickly removed his Stygian iron sword and kept it under the table in a way that it was hidden from prying eyes and but made sure that Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy could see it. They could, if the way they paled was any indication. And why wouldn't they? What with the sword and the 'Ghost King' look that Nico was giving them, even the bravest man in the world would turn tail and flee.

Blaise gulped. "Now look here, what – what is that? Where d-did you g-get it?" he stammered. "I know why you're here, but please hear me out. What - what my mother did was to protect me, alright? It was neither of our faults, you know. Please. Don't hurt any of us. Please. No more."

Draco looked just as fearful as Blaise did, although he was better at hiding his fear than Blaise was. "My mother tried to protect me too. It wasn't for any other intention. And we've told you people before! We're not going to come with you so just leave us alone."

Nico's menacing smirk was wiped right off his face. _What were Blaise and Draco on about? No more? Why, is someone hurting him and his mom? And was someone trying to take them away?_ Trying not to look as menacing as he did before, Nico grabbed Blaise's trembling hand and spoke urgently to them. "When does this feast end? Tell me!"

"A-after dessert. And Dumbledore's speech." Blaise stammered, wanting nothing more than to run back screaming. He couldn't believe they'd found them here as well and they were completely vulnerable here, with no one to help them. At home, at least Lucius Malfoy was there to keep _those people_ away from them but he didn't think Snape would do the same.

"Then you two are going to come with me after every one has gone to bed and you're going to tell me and my friends everything. Understand? _Everything!_ " Nico whispered fiercely, sure that something was going on here. Something that none of them would have guessed.

His plate of dinner lay forgotten as thought over everything that had happened since he'd been sorted into Slytherin.

* * *

"You can't just take us away like this! We- we'll scream real loud if you do, alright? Watch us." Draco growled as fiercely as he was able, which wasn't much at all, considering that he was shuddering like a leaf.

"Just shut up, will you? You'll get us caught!" Nico snarled viciously at him, effectively shutting both their mouths until they'd reached one of the deserted classrooms where he'd planned to meet up with Percy, Annabeth and Grover.

"Nico. Why have you got them along?" Annabeth said through gritted teeth, looking warily at Draco and Blaise.

Immediately, Draco and Blaise tensed up, wondering just what was going on around here. "What, you- you didn't come to get us?"

"No! That's what I'd been trying to tell you. We're not here for you. At least, we don't think so." Nico said slowly, as if he was talking to two five year olds, and then turned to Annabeth. "Look, Annabeth, these two have already guessed that we're not really witch and wizards and they can see through the mist. Plus, I haven't heard their story yet, but what I heard, well, maybe you should hear it as well."

Annabeth sighed, and then nodded to show her consent.

"Alright," Percy started. "Nico thinks you're someone we should know about, so, if you don't mind, would you tell us?"

Looking guardedly at each of them, Draco and Blaise remained silent until Nico prodded them with a, "Explain what you told me while having dinner."

And so they did. They told them everything that had been going on. The really beautiful monsters who were threatening and abusing them and their parents. The people who'd married Blaise's mom to get to them, forcing her to somehow kill each of them. Everything.

When they'd finished, Nico was staring open mouthed at them, while the others sat on a few benches with their heads in their hands.

Grover was looking thoughtfully between them. He only asked them one thing. "Do you have dyslexia and ADHD?"

* * *

 **So, that was the first chapter. Do you think Draco and Blaise might be demigods? And who were those people who were troubling them and their parents? Why are they doing that? Which witch or wizard could be the demigods who Percy had come to Hogwarts for?**

 **Ah, so many questions and no answers. Yet.**

 **If you liked the story and do want me to continue, please say so in your reviews. I'll be awaiting them. Hope you liked it so far, and please let me know** **via reviews.**

 **QuillDragon23746.**


	2. A Realisation

**A REALISATION**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

* * *

 **Previously:**

When they'd finished, Nico was staring open mouthed at them, while the others sat on a few benches with their heads in their hands.

Grover was looking thoughtfully between them. He only asked them one thing. "Do you have dyslexia and ADHD?"

* * *

 **Chapter 2:**

Draco didn't know what was going on, but he knew one thing. There was something different about these people and he wanted to find out what it was. Also, so far, they seemed trustworthy to him, but being a Slytherin, he knew just how deceptive appearances could be, and wasn't about to trust them fully anyway.

He and Blaise had already given them a lot of information that they most definitely shouldn't have and he wasn't about to disclose any more to them just yet.

Nudging Blaise to ensure he wouldn't just blurt anything out, Draco shook his head in response to Grover's question. "No, no dyslexia and no ADHD."

"Well, you know about us, now. What about you? You haven't given us a straight answer to any of our questions so far." Blaise said, looking at each of them accusingly. "And aren't you going to introduce us, di Angelo?"

"Oh, right. Guys, Blaise Zabini. Blaise, this is Percy, she's Annabeth and that's Grover, but I guess you already knew that from when Dumbledore introduced us to the whole school." Nico said.

"Right. So, what's your story?" Draco inquired, crossing his arms across his chest. "And don't feed us the 'home school' bull because we never believed it in the first place and are not going to at all. And what's with the sword?"

"Oh, alright. Have either of you heard of the Greek gods?" Annabeth asked, pointing at them, and continued when they nodded their heads in affirmation. "Yes, well, they're not myths, as you might have thought. They existed before and still do. They're still alive, and they still have kids with mortals, who are half god and half human. They're called demigods."

"We," Nico continued. "Are demigods. Well, all of us, except Grover, who is a satyr. Percy is the son of Poseidon, Annabeth is a daughter of Athena and I'm the son of Hades."

Draco was looking like he didn't believe a word they were saying and Blaise was spluttering in shock. "But- but, they're only myths. All those demigods I've heard about- Hercules, Perseus – they're myths too. Is this a joke? What do you take us for? Complete idiots?" Draco yelled out, fuming. "What are you playing at?"

"They're not lying, okay? Here, will this prove to you that they're not?" Grover said, rolling up his pant legs and displaying his goat legs to the two stunned wizards before him. "Now do you believe them?"

The only response he got from them was a whimpered, "Yes, I believe you."

Soon after, the two of them went back to the Slytherin common room and them alone in the classroom.

"Well, that went well." Annabeth said. "But you know what? I have a strong feeling about them. Maybe they lied to us, because, obviously, they don't trust us, but I think they might be demigods too. And if their story is true, which I'm sure is, then, who are those people and why are they doing this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Annabeth." Nico said. "But whether they are demigods or not, I intend to find out about them, and help them if possible."

"So, Grover, how's Hufflepuff?" Percy asked, looking expectantly at him. "Gryffindor is great. The common room is amazing and the people there are nice, too. Remember Harry Potter? The Boy who lived, I think he's called. Well, he's a pretty decent chap, if you ask me. So is his friend Ron."

"Isn't he the one who is destined to destroy Voldemort? Glad to hear you're making new friends." Grover clapped Percy on his back, grinning wildly. "Hufflepuff's great too. There are these two boys, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie McMillan. They're nice, too. What about you two?"

"Well, they're all nice but Luna Lovegood fascinates me. She talks utter nonsense, and she's ridiculed by almost all of them, but she's sweet and she doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks of her." Annabeth said, grinning.

"The Slytherin common room is in the dungeons, so it gives me the feel of the Underworld, and I couldn't hope for better. As for the people in my house, well, I haven't really spoken to anyone other than those two and you have first-hand experience of how they are." Nico shrugged and then yawned. "Well, let's get going. I'm pretty tired and I'm sure I've got jet lag and I could sleep like a log throughout the night. We'll all keep an eye out for anyone we think could be demigods and report right in this classroom every evening."

"Yeah, sounds good to me." Percy said. "Good night."

"Good night!"

* * *

"So, we've got Double Potions with the Slytherins first thing today. In fact, we have most of our classes with them. What's so bad about that?" Percy asked Ron, in response to his pained groan at seeing his time table.

"Percy, if you want to survive at Hogwarts, there are a few things you need to know. First: Snape, who used to teach us Potions, is Head of Slytherin and id very partial towards his house. Very. Second: all the dark wizards have come from Slytherin, as have most of the bullies. So technically, Potions with the Slytherins is a subtle way of saying that we'll be tortured." Ron explained, looking like he wanted nothing better than to skip this class. "And Double Potions? Forget it! We'll be grilled, I tell you. Grilled."

That's how Percy found himself standing in front of the Potions classroom in the dungeons with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, trying to tune out Ron and Hermione's whispered argument about the pros and cons of skipping this class.

"Don't mind them." Harry grinned at him. "This is nothing. You should see them on their worst day. It'll make you want to pull your ears out, ground them into fine powder and drop it into the Black Lake."

Percy smiled at that. He couldn't believe how much he liked being here. Sure, he didn't see Annabeth, Grover and Nico as frequently as he would have liked to, but, these people sure made up for it. Also, he couldn't let these people know he and Annabeth were dating. As far as they were concerned, he was Annabeth's cousin.

Shaking his head from those depressing thoughts, he decided instead to observe each and every person present there, in case he could find one of the demigods. He had a strong feeling towards Hermione, but problem was, he had seen her reading last night, and she didn't seem to have dyslexia or ADHD. He could have been reading too much into it, but the kind of wisdom the girl had, well, she could only be a daughter of Athena, but the problem was that she wasn't in the least bit afraid of spiders. Instead, Ron showed the same reaction as Annabeth would have shown if a spider had come as close to her as it had come to Ron last night in the common room, and he was no son of Athena. Any fool could see that.

Percy sighed. All he knew about these demigods were that they were either fifteen, sixteen or seventeen years of age. He didn't even know how many were there exactly.

He was pulled out of his reverie when he saw the Slytherins come around the corner to lean against the opposite wall from where they were standing and several of them give the Gryffindors menacing looks.

Nico was there among them, and he flashed Percy a quick nod and a smile. Percy grinned back at him and Draco and Blaise, who were right behind Nico. They nodded stiffly at him, before flexing their knuckles at Neville Longbottom, another Gryffindor, and trying to look intimidating. Neville paid them no mind and continued his conversation with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

Just then, the plump Professor Slughorn asked them to enter the classroom and said that they would each get a partner from the other house and not their own and that there would be no changes.

"Finnigan – Crabbe. Thomas – Goyle. Longbottom – Greengrass. Weasley – di Angelo. Potter – Parkinson. Malfoy – Granger. Jackson – Zabini." Professor Slughorn read out all the names of their partners and instructed them to sit accordingly.

Grumbling under their breath, they switched places with their current partners, most of them glaring at the old Professor for giving them, in their opinions, the worst partner possible. Professor Slughorn, seemingly immune to their glares and curses, only chuckled heartily at their expressions.

"Now, now, don't worry children, your partners will switch every two weeks. This was done to ensure better inter-house relationships." Professor Slughorn said, trying to pacify the enraged students. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, Professor McGonagall has already informed me that you're going to join this class and that you haven't got your books yet. That won't be a problem as there are some old books in the cupboard over there. Do get a copy for yourselves before you take your seats. I am so glad that you chose to continue taking this class."

Once they'd all taken their respective seats, some still glaring disdainfully at their partners, Slughorn decided to go on with his lesson. "Now then," He began, indicating towards one of the cauldrons placed on the centre table. "Can any one of you tell me what is inside this?"

Immediately, Hermione's hand shot up into the air, and based on the bored and unconcerned response given by the rest of the class, Percy could only assume that she was always the one to answer the teachers' questions. Few murmurs of 'Know-it-all' and 'bookworm' which rang out in the class only confirmed Percy's suspicions.

"Yes?" Slughorn turned to Hermione, looking expectantly at her.

"Sir, it is Polyjuice potion." She said.

Percy saw Harry and Ron nod as they too had recognised the slow-bubbling, mudlike substance in the cauldron, and he wondered just what it did.

"Excellent, excellent! Now, how about this one… yes, my dear?" said Slughorn, now looking slightly perplexed as Hermione's hand hit the air again.

"It's Amortentia. It is the most powerful love potion in the world."

"It is indeed." Said Slughorn. "Very good! I suppose, you recognised it by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"

"Yes, sir." Hermione piped up enthusiastically. "And it's supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us. For example, I smell expensive cologne and blood and-"

But she turned slightly pink, cast nervous looks at Harry, Ron and, Percy noticed, Malfoy, and refused to complete her sentence.

"May I know your name, dear?" Slughorn asked, appearing to completely ignore her embarrassment.

"Hermione Granger, sir."

"Granger? Could you possibly be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?" Slughorn asked, looking mightily impressed.

"I don't think so, sir. I'm muggle-born."

Percy saw Malfoy grimace at this and scoot his stool a little away from hers, as though afraid of being anywhere close to her. He had heard about the attitude of some of the pure-bloods towards muggle-borns, and figured that Malfoy was one of those people. Well, he sure looked like it, anyway. If Hermione had noticed this, she didn't let on; she was either too used to this, or didn't care either way.

He hoped this wouldn't affect Slughorn's new-found admiration for her, but from the way his grin grew wider, he needn't have worried. Slughorn was looking between Hermione and Harry, who was sitting just behind her, with wide eyes.

"Oho!" he cried. " _One of my best friends is muggle-born, and she'd the best in our year!_ Am I correct in assuming that Ms. Granger is the very friend of whom you spoke, Harry?"

"Yes, sir." Said Harry, grinning sheepishly at Hermione, who'd turned to stare wide-eyed at him.

"Take twenty well-deserved points for Gryffindor, then, Ms. Granger!" Slughorn said, almost jumping in his spot.

Percy noticed that Malfoy looked as if he couldn't decide whether to laugh or to cry. Hermione had turned in her seat with a radiant expression on her face and was beaming at Harry. "Oh, Harry! Did you really tell him I'm the best in our year?"

"What's so great in that, Granger? You are a mudblood bookworm, after all." Malfoy spat spitefully at her, from where he was seated beside her.

Hermione's expression did deflate a little, but she was determined not to let Malfoy get to her, so she turned back around and completely ignored the blond-haired git.

Meanwhile, Slughorn had gone on to explain the potion that was placed in a vial beside the Amortentia cauldron.

"…Felix Felicis." Slughorn turned to look at Hermione, who had let out an audible gasp. "I assume you know what it is, Ms. Granger?"

"Sir, its Liquid Luck. It makes the drinker lucky for a period of time during which anything he or she attempts will be successful. Although, if taken in excess quantity, it has some harmful side effects as well, as it is very toxic." Hermione said, without pausing for a breath.

"Ah, very good, Ms. Granger. That's absolutely correct. Ten points to Gryffindor." Slughorn beamed at her. "Felix Felicis, as Ms. Granger rightly said, makes the drinker lucky for a period of time. However, if consumed in large quantity, it is highly toxic. Overuse may cause giddiness, recklessness and dangerous overconfidence. It is also disastrous if brewed wrong."

The entire class had sat up a little straighter and everyone in the class was giving Slughorn their full and undivided attention. Slughorn, who seemed to be basking in all the attention he was getting, suddenly turned brisk.

"Now, for today's task. We have about an hour more of this class left, which is fairly enough time for you to attempt to brew a batch of the Draught of Living Death. I don't, of course, expect potion from any of you as this is more complicated than any of the potions you've prepared before. However, the team who makes the best potion of the lot, will get a small vial of little Felix, for their own use." Slughorn paused for dramatic effect. "But do know this, Felix Felicis is a banned substance in all competitions and examinations and I hope you will abide by this law. Now, get brewing. Chop-chop!"

The next hour of the class proved most insightful for Percy and Nico. While they were completely rubbish at their potions, they did learn key points about a few of the people in this class. One, Hermione could be very brash when she wanted to, given the way she was ready to wring Malfoy's neck because he read the recipe wrong, and made a mistake. Two, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini, contrary to what they'd told the demigods the night before, definitely had trouble reading and sitting still.

By the end of the hour, almost everyone's hair was sticking up at odd angles and all their cheeks had turned red.

Unsurprisingly, Hermione's potion, with few contributions from Malfoy, was the best potion and both of them got the vial of Felix Felicis, equally divided into half. Surprisingly, Hermione and Malfoy seemed to have reached a mutual decision: inside the walls of the potions classroom, as long as they're partners, there would be no name-calling and no insults and (Malfoy's condition) no punches to unsuspecting noses.

Harry and Parkinson seemed to have reached the same decision and there was no ill-feelings between them at the end of the class. All in all, it was a good start to a new year, and none of them could have been happier than another.

* * *

Nico, Annabeth, Percy and Grover were inside the same classroom as they had met the previous night. Nico, as he'd promised the others, had somehow managed to convince Draco and Blaise to come as well.

"Alright, look, I know you two have dyslexia and ADHD, and there is no point in denying it because I'm not going to believe it." Nico told Draco and Blaise, trying to sound more sympathetic than he felt. "Thing is, all demigods have dyslexia and ADHD. So, I'm positive that you're demigods too. The fact that you could sense we weren't wizards is proof enough of that. Ever heard of the saying: Takes one to know one? Yeah, well that applies to you. You knew we are different because you're different too."

"Look, whatever you say, I refuse to believe that the Greek Gods are still alive, alright?" Blaise said resolutely.

Ignoring Blaise, Annabeth began to talk as if he hadn't spoken at all. "I did some research, and my guess is that the monsters who you said were threatening your parents are Empousai. They are known to be extremely beautiful women. However, an Empouai's true form is a woman with flaming hair, white skin, red eyes, fangs, and one prosthetic bronze leg and one donkey leg. This form is used to drink the blood of the men they enchant." She explained.

"I am a satyr and my job is to find demigods and bring them safely to Camp Half Blood. I _know_ you are demigods, alright? Just accept it." Grover's eyes bored into theirs with such an intensity, such sincerity that could not be faked, and succeeded in collapsing the walls that Draco and Blaise had built around themselves a long time ago. "And I think you know it too. Have known for a while, in fact. Just not to this extent."

They let out long suffering sighs. "You're right. We have known for a while, but we wanted to stick to what is normal, that we convinced ourselves not to think that way. May be we are demigods. But how do we know which God is our parent? Blaise's father would be a God and my father will, too. My father isn't really my father." Draco said.

"That is what we'll have to find out. But first, we gotta get you to Camp." Percy said.

"NO! Not yet. We can't leave our parents yet. Those monsters….?" Blaise declined immediately. "They'll kill them."

"But it's you they're after, not your parents."

"I don't care. Blaise is right. We can't leave our parents. We need to be here. But we promise, the minute their threat is off of our heads, we'll come to Camp with you." Draco improvised, hoping they would listen to them.

"Alright. But if we do that, we'll have to start your training here itself." Annabeth said. "God knows you might need it."

"Done. So, when do we start?"

"Tomorrow. We'll arrange some weapons for you to practice with. For now, let's all just go to bed. The first day has been tiring."

"Goodnight!"

* * *

 **Hey, guys! I'm so glad you liked this story. Hopefully, this chapter will still keep you hooked.**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of it.**

 **Quilldragon23746.**


	3. Discoveries and Confessions

**DISCOVERIES AND CONFESSIONS**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

* * *

 **Previously:**

"You're right. We have known for a while, but we wanted to stick to what is normal, that we convinced ourselves not to think that way. May be we are demigods. But how do we know which God is our parent? Blaise's father would be a God and my father will, too. My father isn't really my father." Draco said.

"That is what we'll have to find out. But first, we gotta get you to Camp." Percy said.

"NO! Not yet. We can't leave our parents yet. Those monsters….?" Blaise declined immediately. "They'll kill them."

"But it's you they're after, not your parents."

"I don't care. Blaise is right. We can't leave our parents. We need to be here. But we promise, the minute their threat is off of our heads, we'll come to Camp with you." Draco improvised, hoping they would listen to them.

"Alright. But if we do that, we'll have to start your training here itself." Annabeth said. "God knows you might need it."

"Done. So, when do we start?"

"Tomorrow."

* * *

 **Chapter 3:**

"Do you think we're doing the right thing, Drake?" Blaise asked as they lay in their beds that night, after coming back from the meeting they'd had with the demigods. "I mean, one day, four people just come and tell us we're demigods and we're to believe them?"

"We haven't believed them, Blaise. We're just playing along. Of course, there is something different about both of us, but that doesn't mean that we'll believe anything and everything some random strangers come and tell us. We'll see how this goes, and if there is anything wrong, we'll tell Professor Snape, alright? He'll surely be able to help us. I know those monsters did tell us not to open our mouths about them to anybody, but hell, Blaise, we already told those weirdos. Sev could help us a lot better than those people ever could." Draco said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Blaise.

"Do you think Professor Snape will help us?" Blaise questioned him, sounding doubtful.

"He's my godfather, Blaise. Granted, he's likely to be angry at Mother and Father for not telling him about this, but in the end, he'll come through. He'll not let those people get to us. Don't worry, Blaise, It'll be okay. We'll be okay."

Blaise lay awake in his bed long after Draco had begun to snore softly, going over his friend's words over and over again in his brain. Oh, how much he hoped Draco's words would come true. They'd both lived most of their lives in fear, deceit and tension. He would do anything, if only it meant freedom. For all of them.

He sighed softly as calm breathing replaced his erratic one, and sleep overtook him. Who knew what the next day would bring?

* * *

Lucius Malfoy let out a shaky breath as he watched the dementors walk ( _float,_ he thought with a shudder) away from his cell.

The man sighed and dragged a trembling hand over his face. Nothing could fix this, he knew. He'd most likely lost all his finds, his Ministry protection and what mattered to him the most – what little bit of respect Draco and Cissy still had had for him, after his stupid stunt at the Quidditch World Cup before Draco's fourth year.

The Dark Lord, he knew, would be very angry at him and a large dose of the Cruciatus curse was just around the corner. He didn't mind that. Of course, if he could've, eh would rather have nothing to do with that curse, but he didn't have a choice. What he _was_ worried about, however, was the amount of threat those she-monsters posed to his family.

The only thing that had stopped them from taking Draco and Blaise with them a long time ago, was a determined promise of the Cruciatus curse dealt by the Dark Lord himself, since the Malfoys were one of his favourites. But now that he no longer was one of the Dark Lord's favourites, he knew it wouldn't be long before they attacked.

Draco was not his biological son, but that had never held any importance in his life. He'd always considered Draco as his own son and he couldn't lose him. It had come as a complete shock to him when Cissy had told him who Draco's father was. He hadn't believed her then, but the large amount of monsters who'd attacked them had been more than enough to confirm Cissy's claims.

Now that Draco, along with Blaise, were in immense danger, he had to do something to protect them. Something big. He knew just what he had to do, and even if that meant he'd lose Draco and Cissy's love and affection, he was willing to do it if that meant keeping them all safe and sound.

He didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but he hoped it brought love into Draco's life, to compensate for the hate he was going to brew in Draco's heart for his father.

* * *

Hermione yawned softly, having just been awoken by the rays of the sun that continued to dance merrily on her face.

"Ugh! You won't let me sleep in peace, will you?" she cried, after a few failed attempts at going back to sleep. "And it's only half past six." She muttered, glancing blearily at her alarm clock.

Once she'd groused and whinged to her heart's content, she decided to just begin her day already, and that's how she found herself having a stroll by the banks of the Black Lake. The weather was so pleasant, the grass soft and moist under her bare feet from the dew that Hermione wished time would just stand still for a moment. The rays of the sun felt warm on her face and the slow breeze tickled her cheeks softly.

She sat down under a tree beside the water's edge and opened a book to read, a contented smile on her face. For her, this was heaven. A beautiful backdrop to compliment an interesting book.

Pretty soon, she was so engrossed in a book, that she didn't notice the bond-haired boy who'd come to stand in front of her, until he'd spoken.

"That's my spot." Draco said, glaring slightly at her. "You're sitting in my spot."

"You scared me, you idiot!" Hermione said forcefully, hoping he hadn't heard the little screech she'd let out in fright.

"Yeah, I figured that out when you screeched like that." Draco smirked. "Some Gryffindor you are."

"Is there a reason you're here or is it because you have nothing to do? And I won't be surprised if that is true." Hermione laughed.

"Funny." Draco retorted. "But you're sitting in my place. So get out of here."

"Oh, Malfoy, how can you be so polite?! But you know, I don't see your name here anywhere, so do excuse me if I'm not inclined to believe this to be your spot." Hermione retorted, trying not to stick her tongue out childishly at him.

"Whatever, Granger." Draco growled as he plopped himself down onto the grass beside her. "What are you reading anyway, at a quarter to seven in the morning?"

Hermione panicked. She didn't want anyone to know about the one thing she'd tried so hard to hide for most of her life, least of all Malfoy.

"None of your business!" she snapped as she jumped to her feet, hiding the book behind her back, and taking big steps back towards the lake. "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

Malfoy was watching her with a calculated look in his eyes, as she backed away from him and closer and closer to the water's edge. He really wanted to know what she was reading, especially now that he'd seen her reaction. She didn't want him to know what she was reading, and that only piqued his curiosity further. If she wasn't going to give him the book, he was going to get it himself.

"AH!" he cried loudly, feigning terror. "The Giant Squid! It's right behind you!"

In the split second that it took for Hermione to scream, turn around and realise that Malfoy had lied and that the Giant Squid was not really behind her, Malfoy had whisked the book out of her paralysed-with-fear hands and was turning it lazily in his hand which was held far above her reach. A smirk played on his lips the whole time, as he watched her turn red with barely suppressed rage.

"Malfoy! Give me my book back!" she yelled loudly, which, in Draco's opinion, was pretty loud in comparison to her diminutive size.

"No will do. At least, until I know what it is." Draco taunted as she jumped to try and get her book back from him, but he was much too tall for her, and her hand didn't even come close enough to the book. And then, before Hermione could so much as blink, Draco pulled out his wand and stupefied her. She could only glare fiercely at him as he levitated her and placed her against the tree and then sitting down himself to read the book.

" _Ένας_ _ημίθεος οδηγός για επιβίωση! A demigod'_ _s guide for survival?_ What the heck is that?" Draco asked, opening the book and leafing through its pages. "The tricks and techniques to fight monsters?"

Draco couldn't believe what he was seeing. The book obviously was not for witches or wizards. Moreover, if this book was real, then that meant that what Nico, Percy, Annabeth and Grover had told him was true. Demigods were really real. Damn!

Hermione couldn't believe than Malfoy was able to read this book. According to what her father had said, only demigods or anyone who knew Greek (obviously) could read the book. So that either meant that Malfoy knew Greek (it didn't sound like something he would waste his ever-precious time to learn) or that he was a demigod (definitely not).

"Where did you get this book, Granger?" Malfoy was saying when she came out of her reverie. "Tell me!"

Due to the spell he had cast on her, she could do nothing more than look disdainfully at him until he realised it and removed the spell. "Now tell me!"

"Um, my father gave it to me. When did you learn Greek?"

"Greek? I don't know Greek. Don't change the subject."

"I'm not. That book is in Greek and you just read it."

"No, I didn't!" Draco protested, not ready to believe that he could read Greek. How could he, when he had never learned it at all?

"Yes, you did. If you don't believe me, see the book again. It's in Greek. And only demigods can read Greek now, unless you've learnt it elsewhere."

Draco did see the book and he did somehow know that it was in Greek, but wasn't ready to accept it. If he did, it meant that what Nico, Percy, Annabeth and Grover had been trying to tell them was true. He really was a demigod!

 _And why is that bad? It certainly explains everything that had been going on in my life. The she-monsters, Mother worrying they'll take me away, although she never mentioned who. The other monsters who tried to attack me, everything. And now, this Greek reading ability that I seemed to have newly found. Merlin's beard!_ Thought Draco.

"You're right! They were right, too! I am a demigod. Does that mean you are too?" Draco asked Hermione, looking closely at her and trying to figure out if she really was a demigod or not.

Hermione seemed to suddenly turn shy and was eager to change the subject as fast as possible. "Well, yeah. What did you mean, 'they were right, too'? Has somebody else told you that before?"

"Yes, they have. Do you think, er...would you mind if I borrowed this book for a while? I think I know someone who might be a demigod as well and I want him to know." Draco asked, already inching towards the castle.

Hermione looked hesitant to just let him take it with him, considering the treatment he'd doled out to her for the past five years for being a muggle-born and now he'd found out that he wasn't a pureblood, either, but she also understood just how felt.

Draco seemed to have sensed her dilemma, and immediately backtracked. "Oh, it's alright if you don't want to. I'll convince him anyway."

Hermione watched as he power-walked towards the castle. She couldn't really believe that Draco Malfoy could be a demigod just like her. Well, she supposed, life brought spontaneous and astonishing surprises on a random day and she could do nothing about it.

 _Let's see how this goes,_ she thought as she walked back to the castle.

* * *

"Nico! Blaise! Wake up. Come on!"

Nico rolled over on his bed and placed his pillow over his head so that his head was buried under it, and muffled a sleepy, "Go away! Lemme sleep." From somewhere under it. He'd been practising sword fighting for most of the night, and wanted nothing more than to remain in bed, but apparently, Draco had other ideas. "Why did you get up so early, anyway?" he grumbled at the excited blond, frowning in displeasure.

"Nico's right, Draco." Blaise murmured from where he was sprawled on his bed with his head hanging off the side and his feet where his head should have been. "Why _did_ you get up so early?"

"Nico, I believe you. I really do. I can read Greek, did you know that? Granger told me that only demigods know Greek. Well, demigods and anyone else if they have learnt it. And I'll tell you, I've never learnt Greek before in my life."

Nico was already sitting up ram-rod straight when Draco finished his rambling, listening intently to what he had said. "Granger told you that? Isn't she the Gryffindor you were partnered with?"

"She's the one." Draco confirmed.

"Wait, wait." Blaise said, looking confused. "You can read Greek?"

"And you will be able to too, Blaise, 'cause you're a demigod just like him. In fact, the very reason you have dyslexia is because your brain is hard-wired for ancient Greek. As for your ADHD, well, they're just your battle reflexes. In a real battle, they're what keep you alive and I'm sure you know just how much you'll need them, considering the empousai at your homes." Nico explained. "What I don't understand is if Granger if a demigod, why hasn't she ever come to Camp before? None of us knew her and I'm sure that if she had been to Camp, Annabeth would definitely have recognised her. She's been at Camp since she was seven."

"Maybe you could just ask her." Blaise said, picking up one of Nico's books from his trunk and going over it. "Hey, you're right. I can read Greek!"

* * *

Percy was sitting in one of the more comfy armchairs by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room when Hermione walked through the portrait hole, lost in deep thought.

"Hey, Hermione. I didn't know you'd gone somewhere. Where did you go?" Percy asked, curious. He eyed the book, wondering where he'd seen it before.

"Oh, just went out for a stroll by the lake. The weather is really nice out there and I wanted to enjoy it for a little while." Hermine smiled as she, too, plonked herself into an armchair, before jumping to her feet again. "I'll keep this book and be right back. Would you wake Harry and Ron up for me please? Then we can all go down for breakfast."

* * *

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Ronald!" Hermione cried, brushing away few crumbs of Ron's breakfast away from her plate. "It's disgusting, is what it is!"

" 'orry, 'ermione!" Ron said, his mouth filled to the brim with food.

"You're incorrigible." Hermione went back to her breakfast without another word, ignoring Ron's cries of 'what did I do?'

Percy saw Grover happily mingling with his friends from Hufflepuff and winked at Annabeth when he caught her eye, who smiled back. He met Nico's eye and Nico quickly gestured for them to meet in the deserted classroom that night.

Percy was on his way to Transfiguration when Nico caught up with him and they waked to class together, as both the Slytherins and Gryffindors had Transfiguration, while Nico filled Percy in on all that Draco had informed him and Blaise. Percy wasn't in the least bit surprised to know that Hermione was a demigod and if he were to take a wild guess, he'd say that she was a daughter of Athena, what with her intelligence and wisdom. What he didn't understand was why she hadn't yet come to Camp, even though she obviously knew who she really was, and that is a recipe for monster disaster more often than not.

"We'll have to Iris-message Chiron and tell him about the demigods that we've found." Nico was saying when they reached the Transfiguration classroom. "Have you found out anything about how to destroy Voldemort's souls?"

"No, but I'm working on it. I hope to tell Harry, Ron and Hermione about this so, because as far as I've gathered from all that they've told me, the three of them are in the dead centre of this. Voldemort wants Harry dead, and Ron and Hermione are not going to let him go through it alone, no matter what, 'cause they care too much for him to just let him go." Percy said, pulling Nico into an unused corridor so they could talk in peace without anyone overhearing them. "We'll meet in the same classroom today, and I'll convince Hermione to come along as well. We'll start training for Draco and Blaise and even Hermione if she's willing."

"Sounds good." Nico said. "I'll inform Annabeth and Grover about this as well if I meet them and you do the same."

"Sure." Percy grinned. "Oh hell, come on quick, Nico, or we'll be late for class."

* * *

That night, after dinner, Percy convinced Hermione to stay with him in the common room even after all the others had gone to bed which wasn't pretty difficult to do, since all he had to say was that he wasn't understanding some topic or other in Transfiguration and could she please teach him the wand movement.

When Percy was sure that if he sat through another lecture on how to move his wand for a particularly difficult spell, his eyes would cross over and his ears would fall off, he decided it was time to inform Hermione about the real reason he'd asked her to stay.

"Um, Hermione?" he asked, causing her to stop in the middle of her explanation. "I was wondering, where did you get that book you were having when you came from your walk early in the morning today?"

Hermione immediately tensed up, and decided that it was safer to play dumb until she was absolutely sure of his intentions. Sure, they were friends, but she couldn't forget the fact that they'd known each other for not more than three days, and that she didn't really know who she was.

"Which- which book, Percy? I don't know what you're talking about." Hermione bit her lip, hoping that he wasn't talking about the book that she thought he was talking about.

"Oh, you know, the book. ' _A demigod's guide for survival.'"_ Percy said, looking intently at her for her reaction. "It was in Greek, wasn't it? Yeah, I've been looking everywhere for it. I never could find it, though."

"You- you were looking for it?" Hermione squeaked, looking wide-eyed at him.

"Yeah. It could come in handy loads of times for me." Percy grinned.

"So, you're a demigod, too? Like me?"

"Yeah. I didn't really get home schooled, you know. I went to Camp Half Blood when I was twelve. I was there this whole time. How is it that you haven't been to Camp?" Percy asked, looking genuinely curious.

"Well, we lived here in England, and Camp's all the way in America. My dad didn't want me to stay so far away from him, so he requested Chiron to let me stay here. Chiron was reluctant, but he agreed. A few months later, a demigod turned up at our doorstep, and said that he had come here for his studies, and would train me in exchange for a place to stay. My dad was ecstatic. That meant I wouldn't be in danger of dying at the hands of a monster and I also got to stay here with him. So that's that. He's the one who gave me that book, really." Hermione explained. "What about you? Are your friends demigods, too?"

"Well, mine is a very long story and I'll tell it to you in time. And yes, my friends are demigods too."

"If you were at Camp, why did you come here then?" Hermione asked. Now, Percy was definitely sure she was a daughter of Athena. She was so _thirsty_ for any kind of information.

"And that," Percy started. "Is where you, Harry and Ron come in. We came here on a quest. Well, two quests, really. I'm here to bring any demigods that I find back to Camp with me and Nico, Annabeth and Grover are here for a whole different matter."

"May I know what it is?"

"To kill Voldemort. You see, Nico is the son of Hades, the Lord of Death, and Voldemort's soul has belonged in the Underworld for a long, long time, now. That's why we'll need your help. We know about the prophecy concerning Voldemort and Harry, and also the dangers of messing with a prophecy. So Harry will be the one to kill him, of course, but we'll help too. You see, we know the secret to his death. We know why he didn't die when his own curse rebounded on him all those years ago at Godric's Hollow."

* * *

 **That's the third chapter, guys. I hope you found it to be an interesting read. I'll try to update sooner next time.**

 **Quilldragon23746.**


	4. Bad News

**BAD NEWS**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

* * *

 **Previously:**

"If you were at Camp, why did you come here then?" Hermione asked. Now, Percy was definitely sure she was a daughter of Athena. She was so _thirsty_ for any kind of information.

"And that," Percy started. "Is where you, Harry and Ron come in. We came here on a quest. Well, two quests, really. I'm here to bring any demigods that I find back to Camp with me and Nico, Annabeth and Grover are here for a whole different matter."

"May I know what it is?"

"To kill Voldemort. You see, Nico is the son of Hades, the Lord of Death, and Voldemort's soul has belonged in the Underworld for a long, long time, now. That's why we'll need your help. We know about the prophecy concerning Voldemort and Harry, and also the dangers of messing with a prophecy. So Harry will be the one to kill him, of course, but we'll help too. You see, we know the secret to his death. We know why he didn't die when his own curse rebounded on him all those years ago at Godric's Hollow."

* * *

 **Chapter 4:**

Nico, Annabeth, Grover, Draco and Blaise had been waiting in the classroom for Percy, and hopefully Hermione, to come, but it had been at least thirty minutes, and neither of them had turned up yet. Just when they assumed that the two of them weren't going to come, there was a soft knock on the door and Percy entered looking sheepish, followed by a suddenly-very-shy Hermione.

"Um, hi." Hermione exclaimed, smiling hesitantly. "Sorry we're late."

"It was my fault, really. I didn't see the moving staircase and I sort of got stuck in it." Percy explained, trying to avoid Annabeth's glare. He knew what she was going to say: _we're on a quest, Percy. How can you be so careless? We have to have our eyes and ears open. There is no chance for mistakes. One small mistake could cost us our lives, you idiot!_ "So, introductions. You guys, this is Hermione. Hermione, that's Nico, Grover and Annabeth. You, of course, know Draco and Blaise." Percy pointed at each in turn as he was introducing them.

"Hermione, do you know who your God-parent is?" Grover asked.

"Um, yes. My mother. She's Athena." Hermione said.

"Oh, great. That makes you my sister! I'm a daughter of Athena as well." Annabeth exclaimed, going over to wrap Hermione up in a tight hug. "Although, how you managed to stay alive without yet going to Camp is beyond me. Didn't monsters ever attack you?"

"Oh, believe me, they did. Thing is, my dad spoke to Chiron since he didn't want me to go to Camp, and one day, one of the demigods came home and offered to tutor me in exchange for a place to stay. Dad agreed, of course. So, he's already been training me at home. We found out that I'm great at sword fighting."

"Well, then, Hermione, will you be the instructor for today's lesson? Just the basics." Nico offered, wanting to see how far she knew.

"Um, sure."

Hermione started by transfiguring one spare quill into a cotton-stuffed dummy and a few others into wooden swords used for practice. She took out her pendant, which immediately turned into a sword. "My trainer gave it to me. I don't know whether you know him. His name's Lucas Clarinton. He said he used to go to Camp too, but then he ran away from there because he wanted to complete his education. He's a son of Ares."

Percy and Nico turned to Annabeth and Grover 'cause among them, they had been at Camp for the longest period of time. "None that I've heard of, actually." They answered the unspoken question.

For the next forty-five minutes, Hermione showed them a few basic slashing and stabbing movements which Draco and Blaise had a lot of trouble learning, considering the fact that they'd never held a sword in their lives.

By the time they were all tired and ready for bed, Draco and Blaise were doing okay, they understood what they were going to do and their reflexes were pretty good.

"I don't think we'll be able to do this tomorrow, though." Draco said, grabbing the towel Annabeth handed to him and wiping his sweat-drenched forehead. "We've got Quidditch try-outs and since I'm the captain for Slytherin's team, I have to be there. Besides, Blaise is trying out for keeper, too."

"That's alright, I think. But be sure to practice what you've learnt today, or you'll forget." Percy warned. "Here, can you turn the dummy and the swords small with your wands? That way, you can keep it with you at all times, and practice whenever."

"Will do."

Each one of them walked back to their dormitories and fell asleep the minute their head hit the pillows.

* * *

" _It is all your fault, you little freak! You're going to get my entire family killed. Go into your room, now, and stay there until I come to get you. You'll not get anything to eat until you stop calling them. Now go. GO!" A woman with wavy-brown hair and dark brown eyes was yelling at her._

 _She ran up the stairs, her eyes blurring with unshed tears. Why did her mother hate her so much? What had she ever done to her? She was only six, after all. What could she ever do to them?_

 _She ran into the attic and fell on top of her bed, crying herself to sleep, her sobs echoing loudly into the tiny and mostly empty room. No one was there to listen to her. No one was there to ask her why she was so scared. There was no one to comfort her, to wipe her tears away and tell her that she was not alone because she was. She was so alone. So alone._

 _She didn't understand why those huge and scary demons wanted to eat her. And when she'd tried to tell anyone about it, they just brushed it off. She had a very creative imagination, they said. No one would eat her up. She was just being silly._

 _Her mother and father knew she was telling the truth, though. They knew. But they thought that she was calling the demons to eat them up. And they hated her for it._

 _She didn't know what to do. So she cried and cried and cried. And still, no one was there for her. At all._

* * *

Draco woke up to soft tapping on the window. Looking over at the window with unfocused eyes, he surmised that the grey bobbing blurry mass could only be his owl, Hazel. He padded over to the window and quickly opened it, allowing her to soar inside and land on the foot of his bed.

Caressing her head gently, he took the letter that was tied to her legs and began to read it. By the time he's reached the end of the letter, his face was set in a dark scowl and he was visibly shaking with rage.

"What is wrong, mate? Who's the letter from?" Blaise asked, having seen the whole episode. "Did something happen?" Hazel hooted softly, lightly nipping his hand to let him know that she was there for him.

Smiling at Hazel, he let her fly out of the window before addressing Blaise's question. "Here, read it. You'll know. And when you're done, don't forget to burn it to ashes."

Frowning slightly, Blaise began going through the letter which was from Narcissa Malfoy.

Blaise was in tears by the time he'd finished reading the letter. "They… they-" he didn't seem to be able to continue. Instead, he got up from his bed and kicked his bedside table viciously. "I can't believe they did that! To my mother, too. I can't-"

"I know, Blaise. This has gone on for far too long. It's time we bring Severus into this as well. And maybe the others, too. Come on. We'll speak to him immediately. We might be able to catch him before he goes to the Great Hall for breakfast. Come on!"

* * *

 **What did the empousai do to Blaise's mother? Who was that girl whose parents hated her? Can any of you guess? If you do, please let me know and I'll prove you right or wrong through more posts.**

 **I am so glad you liked my story so far. Do continue to send me such lovely reviews.** **I hope you liked this chapter as well.**

 **I know this chapter is much smaller compared to the others, but I wanted to end it at this point, and I couldn't get anything else to add to it. it couldn't have been better. So sorry for that, but I promise that the next chapter will be longer.**

 **QuillDragon23746.**


	5. A sneak-peek into the past

_**A SNEAK-PEEK OF THE PAST**_

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

* * *

 **Previously:**

By the time he'd reached the end of the letter, his face was set in a dark scowl and he was visibly shaking with rage.

"What is wrong, mate? Who's the letter from?" Blaise asked, having seen the whole episode. "Did something happen?" Hazel hooted softly, lightly nipping his hand to let him know that she was there for him.

Smiling at Hazel, he let her fly out of the window before addressing Blaise's question. "Here, read it. You'll know. And when you're done, don't forget to burn it to ashes."

Frowning slightly, Blaise began going through the letter which was from Narcissa Malfoy.

Blaise was in tears by the time he'd finished reading the letter. "They… they-" he didn't seem to be able to continue. Instead, he got up from his bed and kicked his bedside table viciously. "I can't believe they did that! To my mother, too. I can't-"

"I know, Blaise. This has gone on for far too long. It's time we bring Severus into this as well. And maybe the others, too. Come on. We'll speak to him immediately. We might be able to catch him before he goes to the Great Hall for breakfast. Come on!"

* * *

 **Chapter 5:**

 _ **Fifteen years ago:**_

 _The sky looked gloomy as the grey clouds hovered all day until the sky opened up and rain fell relentlessly. With the sound of a baby's first cry and the thunder that accompanied it, everything changed._

 _Rain pounded on the window panes and lightning raced across the sky. Wind fought against the trees, leaving many uprooted and others batting for their lives. If any storm was an epitome of power, then this was it._

 _Lucius Malfoy held his just born son in his arms and he couldn't fathom just what he had done to get a son who looked so perfect. With his blonde hair, which he'd inherited from his mother, no doubt, and his stormy grey eyes, it was probably no doubt that he looked like a little angel._

 _Lucius looked into his wife's eyes, seeing the utter joy in them, and he knew that no matter what, he'd care for his son, one who wasn't really his son in reality._

 _Cissa had told him everything before they were to be married. About the man she had loved and about the baby she was carrying. Any other wizard would have refused the marriage arrangement, but not him. She had been the best among the witches his parents had asked him to choose his bride from, and it didn't matter if the baby she was carrying was not his own. And what had really drawn him to her was her honesty. She hadn't been afraid to tell him the truth in its entirety, in spite of knowing that that piece of information may cause her many problems, and that no one may be willing to raise a child who was not their own._

 _He hadn't really believed her, of course, when she had told him that her baby was that of a Greek God's, but now that he was seeing the boy with his own eyes, he knew she was telling the absolute truth._

" _He's beautiful, Cissa." Lucius smiled down at his wife, who looked extremely exhausted while still managing to look blissful. "What do you want to name him?"_

 _Narcissa had informed him about the dangers that the baby might have to face, being a demigod, and he hoped and prayed to Merlin that his son be as brave and fearsome as a dragon. When he voiced his thoughts out to her, she smiled and took his hand in her own and squeezing it gently._

" _Draco." She said determinedly. "My little dragon."_

 _Lucius immediately loved her choice of name for their boy. It seemed that that name was most fitting for their son. "Draco Lucius Malfoy." He hugged the little bundle of joy as tightly as he dared, before placing the mewling child in the arms of his mother and sweeping out of the room to tell this wonderful news to anyone who would listen."_

* * *

" _Who are you? And- and how did you get inside?" Narcissa asked, fury lacing every word of hers._

 _The four owls that had come through the window had suddenly transformed into young and beautiful females. She first thought that they might be animagi, but then she figured that they were here for Draco. And she was right._

 _They took their true forms which, to her, seemed more terrifying than Voldemort had ever looked even on his worst day._ _The women had flaming hair, white skin, red eyes, and fangs. What really caught her attention were their legs. They each had one donkey leg and one prosthetic lag made of some metal that she thought was brass._

" _Give him to me." One of them hissed, holding out her hand as if Narcissa would just drop her baby into her arms and flee like a mouse flees form a cat._

" _Never! I'll never give you my son!" she cried, clutching tightly onto Draco, who had quite a set of lungs on him, judging from the high pitched voice he was emitting from his throat._

 _She didn't know what happened next. She could only feel excruciating pain throughout her body and another kind of pain, like something with razor sharp teeth had taken the liberty to sink them into her neck-joint. That was before she passed out from the pain and fear and panic that had been bubbling inside her chest, considering the fact that Lucius had gone to the Ministry, in his joyous mood he had dismissed the house elves for the day only and she had carelessly left her wand in the room adjacent to the one they were in._

 _She had no ways of getting out of there alive, she knew, but she could think of her Draco's safety. Those were her last thought before she blacked out._

* * *

 ** _Back to present:_**

Tossing and turning, he couldn't get to sleep. No matter how hard he tried, it was of no use. He had all but given up the notion of sleep as a hopeless case, and got out of bed. Still in his pajamas, he padded over to the common room with a few of his textbooks. If nothing else, at least a little bit of reading ought to ease his mind.

Plopping heavily into one of the armchairs by the crackling fire in the hearth, he began to read one of the books under the light of the fire burning in the fireplace. After a while of this, he closed the book with a snap.

"This is ridiculous!" he muttered angrily to himself, giving up on reading as well.

He didn't know why he'd suddenly begun to feel restless. There was a kind of edginess in his mind and body, but he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out the reason for his emotions. He felt like something big was going to happen and it was going to happen fast, and he had a bad feeling that whatever was happening, it was related to Voldemort.

"Its times like this that I begin to hate being Harry Potter." He hissed to no one in particular, absentmindedly rubbing a hand over the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

 _At least I have Hermione and Ron_ , he thought to himself. Drawing much needed comfort from that thought alone, he decided he'll tell them about these strange feelings of his. Debating over the idea, he slowly walked back to his dormitory, in the hopes that he would be able to catch few precious hours of sleep before having to attend classes the next day.

* * *

"Professor Snape! Professor!"

Severus Snape stopped in his tracks and turned around to see Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini sprinting to catch up with his long strides. He waited patiently while they came up to him, huffing and puffing like steam engines. He raised an eyebrow at their dishevelled appearance – uncombed ruffled hair, rosy cheeks, shoes not polished and cloak not worn properly – but decided against asking them about it.

"Yes?" he asked, looking between the two of them. Why did he have a feeling that whatever they wanted to tell him was going to create a lot of problems?

"We needed to speak to you, Professor. It's kind of important and it is urgent." Draco spoke urgently, looking desperately at his godfather.

"Very urgent." Blaise piped up, looking like he wanted to just break down and bawl. His eyes were red-rimmed like he'd already finished a few rounds of intense sobbing.

Severus sighed inwardly. He gestured for them to follow him and began walking towards his personal quarters with his black robes sweeping menacingly behind him, not waiting to see whether the two boys were following him or not.

Closing the door of his quarters behind the two boys, he motioned for them to be seated while he himself stood towering over them, a dark scowl etched on his face.

"This better be good." He growled at them. Normally, he wouldn't behave this way with his Slytherins, but he hadn't had a good night of sleep and he was really hungry, so it was no surprise that his patience was wearing thin. "Well?"

"Umm, Uncle Sev, you see, it began like this…" Draco began, ignoring his godfather's angry snarl at his use of 'Uncle Sev' in front of another Hogwarts pupil. Soon, he told his and Blaise's story to Snape, not leaving out any detail.

When he was done, Snape sighed for what seemed like the millionth time. He couldn't believe Lucius and Narcissa had hidden such a big thing from him. Not only was he Draco's godfather, he liked to think that they had been pretty great friends, from their Hogwarts age. He really couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that the Greek Gods were still alive, but he figured that if the Wizarding world could exist in harmony with the muggle world, then this was also possible _._

"I understand that this is a very sensitive issue. That is why, it is imperative that I know who else knows about this!" he ground out at them.

"Um, the new pupils at Hogwarts. Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Grover and Granger." Draco said, ticking off the names on his fingers. "You see, they're all demigods as well."

* * *

 _ **Hello, guys. First, thank you so much for your support for this story. I feel so happy to know that you liked my story. Hopefully this chapter is as good as the others are.**_

 _ **As for my writer's block, hopefully its over.**_

 _ **Bluestorm28: Thank you so much for taking the time to send me an idea and really, I think I just might use it. Also, I'm sorry but I'm not going to disclose the number or identities of demigods present at Hogwarts. You'll just have to wait and see. Do keep reading and reviewing my story.**_

 _ **JaneStarch1: Thank you so much for sending me your idea. I really hope you liked my story. I loved your idea and it is just what I'm going to do, may be with a few modifications. Do keep reading and reviewing my story.**_

 _ **Thank you and until next time,**_

 _ **Quilldragon23746.**_


	6. Running Away

**RUNNING AWAY**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

 **Previously:**

Snape sighed for what seemed like the millionth time. He couldn't believe Lucius and Narcissa had hidden such a big thing from him. Not only was he Draco's godfather, he liked to think that they had been pretty great friends, from their Hogwarts age. He really couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that the Greek Gods were still alive, but he figured that if the Wizarding world could exist in harmony with the muggle world, then this was also possible _._

"I understand that this is a very sensitive issue. That is why, it is imperative that I know who else knows about this!" he ground out at them.

"Um, the new pupils at Hogwarts. Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Grover and Granger." Draco said, ticking off the names on his fingers. "You see, they're all demigods as well."

* * *

 **Chapter 6:**

Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Nico were in the classroom again. They had had to hide as they were going there so as to not let anyone know about this, but Percy had been insistent that whatever he had to tell them had to be told now because time of the essence.

"Alright, Percy, what is it?" Annabeth asked, sounding like a professional detective.

"I had a dream last night." Percy said. Of course, to any outsider with no information as to what really was going on there and who they all were, Percy's sentence didn't really seem any extraordinary. But the thing is, any dream a demigod had was not just a dream. No, it was much much more. "There were two ladies in it and four empousae. I'm certain they were Draco and Blaise's mothers. Blaise's mother was unconscious and she was very badly hurt. The place was a blood bath, Annabeth. There was some blood on Draco's mom, too, but I suppose it was just Mrs. Zabini's blood. Thing is, the empousae were telling Mrs. Malfoy that this was just the beginning. They wanted Draco and Blaise, and they wanted them now. They also said that there was someone here, at Hogwarts, who was on their side, and would soon bring Draco and Blaise to them if she refused to convince him to come. This is really bad, Annabeth. We have to get out of here now. NOW!"

"Okay." Nico said. "But how? Won't anyone question us? And how the hell do we get out of this place? I'm sure it has got barriers."

"I don't know that. Nico, get Draco and Blaise and I'll get Hermione." Percy said, already going out of the classroom. "We'll have to get Harry and Ron too. It's better that way. We'll protect them, and go hunting for Voldemort's soul-whatsits at the same time. Goodness knows we've had to go on worse quests, anyway."

He ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower and burst into the common room, huffing and puffing, only to find that it was completely deserted. Everyone else had gone down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Oh, damn!" he cursed, before sprinting towards the Great Hall. Entering the hustle and bustle of the Great Hall, it wasn't long before he spotted the Golden Trio and quickly walked up to them.

"Hey, you guys." He said, sliding onto the bench beside Hermione and across from Harry and Ron. Not waiting for their greetings, he continued on. "Alright, guys, look, there is something you all have to know and it's really really important. Okay? You all gotta come with me. Come on, we've got no time. And please, be inconspicuous. There are people here who should not be warned."

He looked meaningfully at Hermione, who quickly understood. Nodding, she said loudly, "I'm going to the library. I have to research something." Of course, this sentence was uttered so many times from her mouth, that no one even batted an eyelash.

Taking the hint, even though he had absolutely no idea what they were going on about, Harry grinned and clapped Percy on his shoulder. "Come on, Perce, we'll show you the Quidditch pitch before classes start."

One by one, they all walked out of the Great Hall, and percy was relieved to see that no one looked twice at them while they were making their exit.

Soon enough, they'd all reached there except Nico, Draco and Blaise. "Where are they?" Grover asked above the noise of Harry and Ron's puzzled questions.

"Here." They all turned to see Nico, Draco and a harried looking Blaise standing by the door, catching their breaths.

"Well, are we going to go, or not?" Draco asked impatiently, a perfect way to mask how scared he really was feeling.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, looking suspiciously between all of them. "And why are we going with them? Hermione?"

"Harry, Ron, please, I don't know any details at the moment. I only know that being here is dangerous. So, we have to leave. Please trust me."

"But isn't Hogwarts the safest place for us to be? With Dumbledore here, it very well is!" Ron exclaimed, his ears going red.

"And what about the last five years, Ron? I remember just how safe they were. A Philosopher's Stone, a Basilisk, a werewolf, the Triwizard tournament and Umbitch. Couldn't have been safer." Hermione's words were dripping with sarcasm. "Look, I'll explain everything to you while we're on the go, but we have to go now. Something feels wrong to me."

"But wouldn't we be missed? And what about the classes we're going to miss, Hermione?" Harry asked, his one last attempt at getting Hermione to think rationally, which wasn't much help to him.

"I would prefer that to what we might face if we're here." She said.

"Shouldn't we tell Dumbledore?" Ron asked.

Hermione paused. Telling Dumbledore didn't seem like a bad option. She weighed both her options, but before she could come to a conclusion, Nico pulled her out of it.

"We can't trust anyone, now. No one, not even Dumbledore." He said, his eyes boring into hers. "Let's get a move on. Does anyone know a way out of this place without anybody knowing that we're going out?"

There was a few minutes of pin-drop silence in the room before Harry raised his hands in an I-surrender motion. "I know a way, but I'll have to go back to my dormitory to get it."

When everyone else (except Ron and Hermione, of course) gave him a confused look, he hurried to explain. "I have something that will help us get out. Trust me. Besides, shouldn't we all get a few stuff with us as well? Essentially, we're all running away aren't we?"

Following Harry's very important suggestion, everyone scrambled back to their common rooms and collected everything they figured would come in handy before meeting inside the same classroom again. They still had a few minutes left before classes began, so this was the ideal time to get away, while everyone else was in the Great Hall.

"Alright, let's go. I'll show the way." Harry said marching towards the passage of the One-Eyed Witch, which led straight into the cellar of Honeydukes. He figured that was the best way out of Hogwarts which hopefully no one knew about.

* * *

"This is so awesome!" Cried Grover, eyeing the boxes and other things inside the cellar of Honeydukes. "Can we grab a few things with us for the journey?"

"So this is how you came into Hogsmeade during our third year, didn't you, Potter? When you were not supposed to be in Hogsmeade at all, in the first place." Draco said, looking at Harry with just a hint of envy.

Still not trusting Draco, Harry only nodded his head curtly, his lips formed in a thin line. Meanwhile, Ron and Grover were busy collecting all the sweets they could get their hands on. Annabeth was searching every nook and corner of the cellars while Nico was being disillusioned by Hermione, who insisted that that way, no one would see them.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Ron asked looking at Percy. "Are you going to tell us anything or are we just supposed to guess? Because, you know what, Percy, if my mum finds out we've gone out of Hogwarts in these dangerous times, she'll kill me. Like, chop me into a million pieces with her spatula, turn me into stew and feed me to the dementors, kill me."

Percy ignored everyone else's snickers and addressed Ron. "Trust me, Ron, I know. Thing is, we have no plan. Our only priorities are keeping Draco and Blaise safe and destroying Voldemort."

Harry, Hermione, Draco and Blaise stopped snickering at once, their complete and undivided attention on Percy.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking curiously at them.

"Don't say his name!" whimpered Blaise.

"I'm sure we can explain while we're on the move. But we have to go now." Nico said.

* * *

Ron refused to believe that demigods existed. That was preposterous. What he didn't understand was that even Hermione agreed that demigods existed. Not only that, she insisted that she was one too.

"NO!" He cried, letting her know his beliefs loud and clear.

"YES!" Hermione screeched back, her hair crackling like electricity.

They were hiding out in a cave near Hogsmeade, where Sirius had stayed during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry, Draco, Blaise, Annabeth, Percy, Nico and Grover were watching their exchange like one would watch a table tennis match, their heads once turning this way and then the next. At least, they were until Blaise took the initiative to shut Hermione and Ron the bloody heck up (his words, not mine).

"JUST SHUT THE BLOODY HECK UP!" he roared at them, effectively shutting them up for good. "For Merlin's sake, I just found out this morning that my mother's life is hanging by a thread and all you can do is bicker about whether demigods exist or not. Weasley, we just told you they exist and that we are few of them. Even Granger is one. What more proof do you want? And Granger, you just told the guy that aeons old Greek Gods are still alive today and are still producing offsprings. What do you expect him to say? Of course, he wouldn't believe it!"

After his little outburst, no one said a word more. Hermione and Ron were staring wide eyed at him. As far as they knew (which wasn't much at all), Blaise Zabini was the quiet types. So hearing him yell so thoroughly at them (their ears were threatening to fall off any second now) completely surprised them. And they weren't the only ones. Even Draco, who was Blaise's best friend in every sense of the word, was surprised to see this side of him for the first time.

"Let's just stay here for a while and we'll start from here a little while later. That is, after I master the art of Apparition." Hermione squeaked, grabbing a book and snuggling down into a corner of the cave to read up all she could about apparition. It was the fastest way she knew to travel, considering everyone would look out for them once they realise that they were all missing. And with Harry Potter with them…

* * *

Severus Snape knew he had to do something to save Narcissa. He hoped that his efforts would also save Blaise's mother, Ruby Grace Zabini, assuming, of course, that she was still alive. The only problem he faced was that he had no idea what kind of creatures the four monsters were and what he was up against. With Lucius in Azkaban, there was no one he could get the information from. Draco had mentioned that the other demigods suspected the monsters to be empousae and he hoped that their guess was correct because it was the only thing he had to guide him.

He sighed. With Draco and Blaise gone (Nico had found them with him and he'd been forced to admit all that they were planning. Severus wasn't going to trust just anybody with his godson's safety, but he could tell that Nico was not completely inexperienced in whatever field that demigod fit into), it would take little time before someone realised they were missing. He didn't know who all had gone, but he had a feeling that Potter and Weasley had been involved too, considering that Granger was a demigod as well.

Now, that had come as quite a shock to him. He never would have guessed.

He sighed again. There were problems being piled on his shoulders and he had to go teach his seventh year Double Potions class with Gryffindors and Slytherins.

Severus yanked open the dungeon doors at half past ten, a little (NOT!) sour at having an hour and a half with the brats.

He wished that it would get better, but it seemed that the Greek Gods that his godson had said were still alive were holding some ancient grudge with him. He could almost imagine them looking upon his activities and smiling a sinister smile. Then they envision a disaster and the planets realign to alter the scene.

Someone pounded desperately on the door of his dungeon classroom and entered without waiting for a response. McGonagall entered, looking frantic, hair flying all over the place and cheeks flushed. "They're gone." She whispered. "They're all gone."

"Minerva, who have gone?" he asked, trying to sound as venomous as he could for her interruption of his class, even though he knew just what she was talking about.

"Dumbledore! And Fawkes!" she cried, raking her hands through her hair. "They're gone! I was there, in his office talking to him about Harry, Ron and Hermione's disappearance and then he just vanished. Poof!"

"Did it occur to you at all, Minerva," he began, grabbing hold of her hand and dragging her away from eavesdropping ears. "That he just might have apparated?"

"But he didn't! He was there one second, talking to me and the next he was gone. I saw his face before he vanished completely and he was very surprised too. He wasn't the one doing it, Severus. We have to do something!"

The Greek Gods really did have some stupid grudge on him, damn it, they seemed to amuse themselves by making his life worse just when he wanted it to become better.

He sighed again. Why the hell was life so complicated?

* * *

 _ **There you go! I hope you liked this chapter and that it was up to the mark.**_

 _ **I need your reviews, guys. I thrive on it as does my story. Please, please review and tell me what you thought of it.**_

 _ **Thank you and until next time,**_

 _ **Quilldragon23746.**_


	7. Dead

**DEAD**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

* * *

 **Previously:**

Someone pounded desperately on the door of his dungeon classroom and entered without waiting for a response. McGonagall entered, looking frantic, hair flying all over the place and cheeks flushed. "They're gone." She whispered. "They're all gone."

"Minerva, who have gone?" he asked, trying to sound as venomous as he could for her interruption of his class, even though he knew just what she was talking about.

"Dumbledore! And Fawkes!" she cried, raking her hands through her hair. "They're gone! I was there, in his office talking to him about Harry, Ron and Hermione's disappearance and then he just vanished. Poof!"

"Did it occur to you at all, Minerva," he began, grabbing hold of her hand and dragging her away from eavesdropping ears. "That he just might have apparated?"

"But he didn't! He was there one second, talking to me and the next he was gone. I saw his face before he vanished completely and he was very surprised too. He wasn't the one doing it, Severus. We have to do something!"

The Greek Gods really did have some stupid grudge on him, damn it, they seemed to amuse themselves by making his life worse just when he wanted it to become better.

He sighed again. Why the hell was life so complicated?

* * *

 **Chapter 7:**

Hermione was really stressed out. She didn't know what to do. She'd read and reread the contents of all the books she had brought with her that was related to apparatition but she was still very unsure about it, which was a first for her. She knew just what could go wrong if she made even one mistake, and she hadn't even apparated herself and she had to side-along apparate all of them, which was a pretty big job in itself.

One of the books, _The Laws of Apparition for Beginner's,_ stated the rules and theory behind this particular operation.

It said: _There are three important things to remember when apparating, called the 3 Ds, which stand for destination, determination and deliberation._

 _Step One: Fix your mind firmly upon the desired_ _ **destination**_ _._

 _Step Two: Focus your_ _ **determination**_ _to occupy the visualized space. Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body._

 _Step Three: Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with_ _ **deliberation**_ _._

She understood all that, but she was still scared. What if she got splinched? What if, because of her, one of the others got splinched? She couldn't live with that kind of guilt weighing over her.

She sighed before making up her mind to do whatever it took to do this. It was really the fastest way to travel, and although it was traceable, she knew no one would suspect them to have apparated, because as far as they knew, none of them knew how to apparate.

She took a deep breath. Following the instructions word by word, she fixated her mind onto the other end of the cave, her destination. She focused her determination to occupy the visualised space and she let that yearning flow through every particle of her body. Then, moving with deliberation, she spun on the spot, feeling her way into nothingness.

She felt as if she was being pulled into a void and in the next second, she was standing in the other end of the cave with a small pop sound, everyone else's eyes only on her. There was a second of absolute silence before Harry and Ron whooped loudly. "You did it!" they cried, pulling her into a hug. "I knew you could do it!"

Draco couldn't help the smile that grew onto his face. He really was pretty impressed. She'd managed to do it without getting splinched, and it was her first time apparating too. He knew how difficult it was to do, considering his father had insisted he be taught how to apparate and Severus had been giving him lessons on apparating for most of the previous summer after his father's arrest. He still hadn't managed to get it right.

"That was pretty darn amazing!" Percy said, clapping Hermione on her back a little too enthusiastically, practically propelling her forward into Harry's chest. "Oh, sorry!"

* * *

After all the excitement had worn off slightly, they managed to have a quiet breakfast of a few of the Honeydukes goodies before Harry voiced the question that had been plaguing his mind ever since they'd run away.

"Percy, I know you said you're all demigods and all, but what I don't get, is why you brought me and Ron along with you. I'm pretty sure neither of us are demigods." He said, looking intently at him.

Percy took in a deep breath before he began to tell them everything he knew, with the others adding on whenever he missed something out.

"Look, we haven't told you everything. We told you we were here to look for and get all the demigods present at Hogwarts to Camp Half Blood with us, but the thing is, it was never our only reason. In fact, it was not our main priority at all. No, our main priority was something else. Finding demigods was only a if-you-happen-to-find-any-demigods-on-the-off-chance kind of quest. The real quest is Nico's." Percy explained.

Nico continued on. "You know that I'm a son of Hades, who is the Lord of the Dead. He sent me here to collect the soul of one such person who had managed to evade death for a long time. I believe you have met him, Harry. Voldemort."

Harry gaped at Nico. Draco and Blaise cringed at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, while Ron shivered. "Voldemort? You came here to kill Voldemort? Is that why you got me along, so I could help you kill him?"

"Yes and no." Nico grimaced. He really didn't like being in the spot light, but here he was with everyone giving him their hundred percent attention. "We will not kill him. You will. The prophecy says you're the one who will either kill him, or be killed yourself. We can't interfere with that. But the thing is, you don't know just what you're up against."

Harry fired up. "Don't know what I am up against? That old creep killed my parents! I've faced him almost every year since I started at Hogwarts and let me tell you something, I wouldn't have survived any of those encounters if Hermione and Ron hadn't been with me every step of the way. Without their help, I would most definitely be six feet under! I've seen him kill a good number of people and it wasn't pleasant!"

"Yes, Harry, I know that. And that is the reason you're here. You've faced him so many times already, seen the true horrors and you're still here, breathing and alive. You know his strengths and may be some of his weaknesses, but you don't know everything." Nico said, trying to be patient. "If you did, you would now that shooting a bullet through his head will get you nowhere. He may die, but he would still be alive."

Draco frowned. What was Nico on about? And what the heck was a bullet?

"Voldemort has created horcruxes. Six of them, if I am not mistaken." Nico said, looking at Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Blaise for some kind of recognition. He got none. "No? Okay, well, a horcrux is anything inside which you put pieces of your soul. If anyone manages to kill you, that part of your soul present inside the horcrux continues to live, thus binding you to life. You'll become immortal."

Hermione frowned. Could this really be true? Was this what Percy was insinuating, when he'd told her he knew why Voldemort hadn't died that night at Godric's Hollow when he'd gone to kill Harry? Percy hadn't elaborated on the matter and only said that she would know when the right time came.

Harry was completely astonished. If what Nico was saying was true, then it certainly explained why Voldemort was still alive even though his own killing curse had rebounded upon him that night in Godric's Hollow. It also meant that he really hadn't known what he was up against. "Six, you say? He made six of these Horcruxes? Merlin!"

"Actually, he made seven. But one was destroyed. In fact, you destroyed it." Annabeth said, a smile on her face. "Remember Tom Riddle's diary?"

"That was a horcrux?" Ron cried, extremely shocked. Ginny had been messing around with something that contained Voldemort's soul! "Oh, Merlin, what about the others?"

Draco and Blaise had about the same thoughts running in their minds. _Merlin save us! He's immortal!_

"Wait, wait." Hermione piped in, hands held in the surrender position. "How do we know which are the other horcruxes? I mean, they could be anything, right? And how do we know he hasn't made any more of them? How can they be destroyed, do you know?"

Grover sighed. "That is the problem, isn't it? We don't know. We were hoping that you would, but now we're not so sure about that, either."

* * *

Narcissa watched as the four she-devils walked out of the dining hall they were all in, as casually as one walked out of a restaurant after a really delicious meal. She surreptitiously wiped the tears that were pooling in her eyes as she concentrated all her energy on keeping Ruby alive.

Ruby was really in a very bad condition. She was bleeding everywhere, with slashes all across her front made by the swords that they had used on her. They had swished and slashed with the swords with no regards to Ruby's life and taking sadistic pleasure from her pained cries. Narcissa herself had been tied up and made to watch one of her best friend begin to lose the battle of life and death.

She slowly cradled Ruby's head in her lap, rocking back and forth slightly, trying to comfort Ruby as much as she was trying to comfort herself. "It's alright, Ruby. It's going to be fine." She kept repeating again and again like a mantra, her eyes glazed over with fear, panic and slowly-growing anger.

She shook Ruby slightly, just to ensure she didn't close her eyes, afraid that if she did, she just might not wake up again. "Do you remember that time, Ruby, when…" She tried telling her stories, recounting any good moments they'd shared, anything to make sure Ruby didn't close her eyes, all the while hoping and praying that the bleeding would stop. She tore pieces of her elegant cloak and wrapped them around her friend's numerous wounds as best as she could considering the circumstances.

She tried not to let her mind drift towards her son and letting worry and fear for her son's life cloud her judgements. The empousae, as she now knew they were called, had forced her into writing the letter that she was sure would have already reached Draco. They were convinced that Blaise would be intent on coming here to save his mother, and Draco would not be too far behind, fearing for his own mother. Narcissa really hoped that they would not try anything too risky, and remain safe. She hoped that they'd have had the sense to at least inform someone they trusted, someone who would be in a position to help them all.

Slowly, she sensed Ruby drifting away, and she herself didn't seem too far behind. The events of the day had been extremely dauntingly, terrifyingly and exhaustingly real, that she had begun to think that giving in to the sweet bliss of unconsciousness might just be what she needs.

It was that very thought that caused her to not fight her drooping eyelids anymore, and let merciful unconsciousness overtake all her senses.

* * *

Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Nico, Draco, Blaise, Harry, Ron and Hermione spent the rest of the day practising side-along apparition, and by bed time, they'd all got the hang of it, except Grover, who always had the insane urge to puke every time he'd been forced to apparate. Now, they were all so exhausted, they fell into a restless sleep as soon as their heads hit their makeshift bed of hay that they'd found lying around and their makeshift bag pillows.

Hermione insisted she'd take first watch (it was always best to be on guard all the time when on a quest. One never knew what kinds of situations on might face) and that she was going to be fine, when Harry and Ron protested otherwise. In the end, it became decided that they'd take turns keeping watch, and that it was best if two people kept a watch at the same time.

That is how Draco and Hermione ended up sitting near the entrance to the cave, Draco with his wand in hand and Hermione with her pendant-sword. They sat in relative silence for the most part, but by then, they'd both grown bored, but there was nothing to do.

Hermione was admiring the moonlit view that was offered to her eyes, taking in the way the water in the nearby lake shimmered and glimmered, and the way the silhouette of the trees seemed even more profound than ever in the full moon night. It was then that she noticed that there was something floating on the surface of the lake. It seemed really small, and whatever it was, it had teeny weeny legs which it was waving frantically in an attempt to swim to safety. How the poor little thing had ended up there, she had no clue whatsoever, but her heart went out to the little creature.

Getting from her rather comfortable spot near the entrance to the cave, she slowly walked towards the lake, intent on trying to save the poor thing. She ignored Draco's super-sweet whisper-shouts, telling her to get her damned butt back inside the cave where it was ruddy safe, and carried on as if she hadn't heard him at all. She even ignored his attempts to get her to slow down, once he'd realised that there was no way that she was going to listen to him and that it was best if he went along with her, to ensure the others didn't yell at him for not getting her to stop and not helping her. Especially Potter and Weasley, who would both have his head if anything were to happen to Granger.

Or, at least, that is what he kept trying to convince himself. It was definitely not because he had started caring for her a teeny weeny bit. It most definitely was not because he had begun to really hate himself for the kind of treatment he'd doled out to her for the past five years. It wasn't because he was beginning to think of her as a friend. And it most certainly wasn't because he didn't want to be just friends with Hermione Granger at all. No, he wanted more than that, but he managed to con himself into believing that wasn't true.

Hermione power-walked towards the lake, and with a swish and a flick of her wand, she'd levitated the creature out of the water, which was actually a gecko. She placed it carefully on a nearby shrub, and it just sat there stunned for a few seconds. It was probably thinking, _what the hell just happened?_

Hermione rolled her eyes at Draco's mutter of ' _Really? A gecko? She came out here to scoop a GECKO out of the god forsaken lake?'_ which he had uttered right behind her, having finally caught up, and had to duck her flying fist for the comment.

Just then, loud applause rang out the stillness, eeriness and silence of the night, like a gun shot. Draco and Hermione both swivelled around to see the source of the applause and immediately froze in terror. their eyes bugged out of their heads just as a chilling shiver ran down their spines.

Hermione's scream of utter horror got lodged in her throat, and the only sound that escaped was something between a squeak, a squawk, and a whimper. There was only one thought that rang in her mind…

 _We're dead. We're so dead._

* * *

 **And there it is… another chapter. Hope you guys liked it and that you will continue to read the story…**

 **Love,**

 **QuillDragon23746.**


	8. You Killed Her!

**YOU KILLED HER**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

* * *

 **Previous:**

Hermione rolled her eyes at Draco's mutter of ' _Really? A gecko? She came out here to scoop a GECKO out of the god forsaken lake?'_ which he had uttered right behind her, having finally caught up, and had to duck her flying fist for the comment.

Just then, loud applause rang out the stillness, eeriness and silence of the night, like a gun shot. Draco and Hermione both swivelled around to see the source of the applause and immediately froze in terror.

Hermione's scream of utter horror got lodged in her throat, and the only sound that escaped was something between a squeak, a squawk, and a whimper. There was only one thought that rang in her mind…

 _We're dead. We're so dead._

* * *

 **Chapter 8:**

What little colour was present in Draco's pale face drained entirely, making him look frighteningly like a vampire. He could do nothing but stare in wide-eyed horror at what stood before him, already thinking that jumping and drowning in the lake behind him would not entirely be a bad idea. He heard Hermione make a weird sounding noise in the back of her throat, and the fact that she involuntarily scooted closer to him didn't escape his notice.

The empousa standing in front of them cackled gleefully. "Draco, honey, aren't you supposed to be at Hogwarts, dear?" she purred, taking slow but steady steps toward the scared pair. "And who do we have here? Your girlfriend, is she, Draco?"

She raised her perfectly manicured fingers to trail them down Hermione's left cheek, the corners of her mouth tugging up into a sinister smile at the way Hermione's breath hitched in her throat. This brought Draco out of his fear-induced stupor. Roughly pushing Hermione away from the empousa, he spat, "Don't touch her, Melissa!"

"Ah, feisty today, aren't we?" Melissa said, moving another step closer, so that now, she stood entirely in Draco's personal space, and gave him a predatory smile. "Well, we'll just have to _fix_ that, won't we?"

Immediately, he flinched at that, the memories of all the times she had tried to _fix_ his _misbehaviours_ flashing through his mind. Reeling from the memories of endless torture and pain, he could only glare weakly at her, trembling from the effort of not falling to his knees and begging for mercy.

Maybe Hermione had felt him tremble, maybe she had read his mind and seen his memories. Maybe she could understand what he was going through, or maybe, it was just her Gryffindor bravery making a huge comeback. Whatever the case, her eyes blazed with uncontrollable fury as she transformed her pendant into a sword and bravely swung it at Melissa.

Melissa, whose attention had been entirely on Draco, was clearly not expecting Hermione to attack the way she did, and even though she jumped back at the last second to avoid becoming skewered onto her sword, a part of it cut clean through her abdomen, bringing forth shrill cries of agony from her.

But Hermione was not done yet.

Bringing the sword back to her side, she swung it the other way, and before Melissa could so much as blink, she brought it down with enough force to successfully decapitate her.

Draco, who had been pushed back throughout the entire spectacle, could only stare at the craze-filled Hermione and the smoking body and severed head of the empousa.

"You… you just… with only a sword… you…" he stammered, raking a trembling hand through his white-blond hair. He let out a deep breath, and looked like he was hyperventilating before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell down into a dead faint.

The last thing he saw and heard before succumbing to the darkness was Hermione's petrified face screaming his name with steadily decreasing volume.

"DRACO!"

* * *

Draco woke up the next morning with a righteously pounding headache. He groaned and shut his eyes to the too bright morning light.

"Draco!"

At the sound of his name, he opened one eye blearily just so he could glare at the offending person and close his eyes yet again. He steadfastly ignored the honey sweet voice while he tried to bury his aching head as deep as possible into his knapsack. When the persistent voice still didn't stop nagging him, he sprang up from his make-shift bed and immediately regretted it.

His head felt as if someone was hammering a nail into his skull, so he clutched it tightly in his hand, as if hoping it would elevate some of the pain. Sadly, it didn't. Instead, a glass of something or the other was thrusted into his chest, which he involuntarily caught, and was ordered bossily to drink it.

So he did. He drank the vile tasting liquid, gagged, cursed and gagged some more. When he was done, he turned to see the person standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. Granger.

The events of last night slammed back into his brain with the force of a hundred hippogriffs and he gasped. "YOU!" he yelled. "You… you killed her! With that sword, you killed her!"

"Yep." Hermione said, standing awkwardly in front of him, not knowing what his reaction to her stunt last night would be. She hoped he wouldn't think of her as a murderer or something, the way her step mother thought. She sighed, trying not to think about the situation at home.

Anyway, she needn't have worried about Draco's reaction to her because he suddenly and with no warning whatsoever, enveloped her into a big, bone-crushing hug, muttering 'you killed her' over and over again like a mantra.

When he pulled back so he could see her face, her eyes were swarmed with unshed tears. Worriedly, he raised his eyebrow at her in question, and she only shook her head and smiled ruefully. "Well, at least, you don't think I'm a murderer." was all she said.

Realising that she didn't want to talk about it, but still undeniably curious as to what she meant, he decided to change the subject. "Where are the others?" he asked, only just realising that they were alone in the cave and there was no sign of the others anywhere.

"Oh, they've all gone to accomplish different parts of a huge task." She smiled at him, and thinking of explaining to him the plan that they'd devised on how to move ahead. "But first, breakfast."

* * *

 **And that's it, guys. I know the chapter is short, but it will have to do, considering the fact that I have another dramione story in mind, and just have to pen it down before I forget.**

 **Hope you liked the chapter and that you'll keep reviewing.**

 **Love,**

 **Quilldragon23746.**


	9. In Plain View

**IN PLAIN VIEW**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

 **Previous:**

Anyway, she needn't have worried about Draco's reaction to her because he suddenly and with no warning whatsoever, enveloped her into a big, bone-crushing hug, muttering 'you killed her' over and over again like a mantra.

When he pulled back so he could see her face, her eyes were swarmed with unshed tears. Worriedly, he raised his eyebrow at her in question, and she only shook her head and smiled ruefully. "Well, at least, you don't think I'm a murderer." was all she said.

Realising that she didn't want to talk about it, but still undeniably curious as to what she meant, he decided to change the subject. "Where are the others?" he asked, only just realising that they were alone in the cave and there was no sign of the others anywhere.

"Oh, they've all gone to accomplish different parts of a huge task." She smiled at him, and thinking of explaining to him the plan that they'd devised on how to move ahead. "But first, breakfast."

… _._

 **Chapter 8:**

Harry, Blaise and Annabeth were walking the roads of a nearby muggle town, hoping that they would find everything that they'd listed out.

Blaise took out the list, quickly glancing through it. He then handed it over to Harry, who was sporting one of Grover's caps to hide his unruly black hair and infamous scar. His wire-rimmed glasses had been replaced with warm caramel-brown coloured contacts and he now looked nothing like himself. The disguise had worked just so perfectly that they all had been tempted to keep his appearance that way, so one was the wiser.

"I don't know what half of them are, so you can decide where the hell we will find these things, considering you've been living with your muggle relatives." Blaise said, shrugging his shoulders.

Harry, having had to live with his muggle uncle and aunt for the entirety of his life so far, knew what the 'muggle contraptions' Hermione had listed out were and had absolutely no trouble directing them to the right shops, with some of Annabeth's help (okay, a lot).

By the time they were through the list, they'd covered almost all the shops in the town and luckily, they had found everything that was on the list.

Satisfied, they decided to walk back to the cave that was currently serving as home.

….

Percy and Nico were seated in a neat little café in the same muggle town that the others were in, steaming cups of hot chocolate remaining untouched on the table. They leafed through all the newspapers available, hoping to find houses given out for rent, considering the fact that they very well couldn't stay in the cave and they'd completely ruled out the possibility of staying at a hotel. Too much money and efforts wasted.

An hour and three more cups of hot chocolate later, they had shortlisted three possible choice for homes. Pleased with the amount of wok they'd got done in such short span of time, they noted down the names and phone numbers of the people.

Placing a good some of money on the table, they walked out into the scorching heat of the sun, making their way back to the cave, and were soon joined by Harry, Blaise, and Annabeth. Annabeth quietly slipped her hand into Percy's, giving him a loving smile that was not lost on their companions.

…

Draco's breakfast consisted of a few sweets from Honeyduke's and a piece of fruit Hermione had acquired, though he had no intention of knowing just where she'd got it from.

They ate in a comfortable silence, completely at ease with one another, something neither would have thought possible a year ago. If anyone had told them that they would both be sitting just metres from each other and having a mostly unhealthy breakfast with no curses or spells shooting around like fireworks, a year ago from then, then they would have had that entirely insane person committed to the permanent ward in St. Mungo's.

Draco, having already given a lot of thought to this, was slowly but surely beginning to like Hermione more and more, and couldn't fathom why he hadn't taken the pain to know the real her before, not the bushy-haired know-it-all he'd always assumed she was. Well, she still is, but that is beside the point.

Of course, the prejudices that had been drilled into his head since before he could even speak, hadn't helped him any and neither had the fact that he had felt jealous of her, though he would never admit it, even now.

While he had begun spending time with her due to the 'demigod' business, it had taken more than her sweet demeanour to soften up his built-in prejudices. What had really done the trick, however, was the way she done Melissa in. there had been fore in her eyes then, and she had moved with skill and purpose. She had looked like she'd been bottling up a lot of emotions inside of her, and this was her way of showing them. There had been fire in her eyes, yes, but there had been more than that. Fear, anger, resentment, determination and above all, triumph. Like she had been fighting her own battle, not his, and had come out victorious.

Melissa had been the root cause for most of the abuse that he and Blaise had suffered through and when he had seen Hermione give Melissa some of that pain, however little had it been, had sparked something in his heart, the one organ he had always claimed he didn't have, that had remained dormant in his chest for so long.

Hermione had had similar thoughts. What she thought she knew and had come to experience regarding the blond was conflicting with what she was seeing for the last few days. His behaviour had changed as had the way she thought of him. Gone was the obnoxious little prat whose only aim in life was to make her life miserable and to idolise his father. No, in his place, she saw a young man, who had been forced to grow up much sooner than he should have, who was mature, and yet childish, brave but afraid and above all, who loved his family, and would give up the world for them. In other words, she saw Harry Potter in Draco Malfoy. She knew neither of the two boys would like to be compared to each other, and in this fashion, but it was the truth. They were more similar than they cared to admit.

Draco hadn't called her mudblood and as far as she could see, he probably didn't even think of her that way, anymore. He smiled often (she thought he looked good when he did that, but she would never admit to thinking that, even at gun point), his matching wit, when not being used against her, was pretty entertaining and he challenged her in ways that no one else had before. Then, there had the part, when he'd sort of confided in her his lifestyle at home. She'd empathised with him, and then felt grudging admiration for the way he had handled all of it with so much courage and determination and still not given in. she now knew, that she was acquainting herself with the real Draco Malfoy, not the schoolyard bully he'd portrayed himself to be all these years.

All the old grudges and petty disagreements that they'd both had with each other had melted away to way to feelings of friendship, admiration, and trust and, dare they say it, love.

"Oi! Aren't you lot done eating yet?"

Ron's bellowing voice floated through the air, interrupting their quiet musings, and startling them, so much that they half-drooped what they were eating and let out undignified squeaks.

"Honestly, Ronald,-" Hermione started, ready to chastise him for his sudden lack of judgement and for yelling it as loudly as he had, but stopped at the look on his face, and rolled her eyes. He looked highly amused at their reactions but wisely chose not to comment, for fear of incurring the wrath of Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy combined.

'Anyway,' Harry began, hoping to distract the two irate people sitting across from where he'd lowered himself to the ground, 'We found everything we needed.' He said, holding out the bags that he carried with him.

'We've shortlisted three homes for renting out and we'll all choose it together to suit everyone's preferences.' Nico said, sitting down beside Draco, and stealing one of his treats. 'It would be much better that way.'

And that is just what they did. After two whole days of contemplation, apprehension, arguments and grumbling individuals, they came to a conclusion that suited everyone.

Hermione, harry and Percy went to speak with the owners of the house they hoped to rent, and had come back looking successful. Soon enough, they moved into their new house for the time being which comprised of a modestly furnished living room, kitchen and two bedrooms with attached bathrooms.

Hermione and Annabeth had settled into one of the bedrooms, while the boys camped in the other one. Sure, at nights, Hermione had to transfigure something random in to a bed, for them. There were two bunker beds for them, and enough room to host another seven of them.

The owners of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, an elderly couple whose son had settled in India. They were pretty sweet people who loved in the adjacent house. Mr. Wilson, despite his old age, was pretty active, and would wake them up at the ungodly hour of a half past four in the morning, and insist that they go for a refreshing morning jog every day.

When they would return, sweating, huffing and puffing, Mrs. Wilson would have a generous breakfast laid out on the table, so generous that just a half of it could feed and entire army.

The older couple had been led to believe that the nine teenagers currently occupying their home, were there on a school project for which they had to take up a job, and earn as much money as they could, which would ultimately be used for a good cause, like treating patients who couldn't afford to pay for their treatments. They had taken their word for it, and although he nine of them felt bead for lying to such wonderful people, it had to be den.

They'd each taken up different jobs- Hermione and Annabeth as salesladies in the town bookstore, while Draco, harry and Blaise worked in the café opposite the bookstore. Nico and Ron as delivery guys for a pizza joint, and Percy and Grover in the departmental store. Not all of them had any vacancy, of course, but a well-timed Confundus charm from Hermione, they were all employed and their employers were extremely impressed with what he assumed they were doing these years.

Soon enough, they were set to hide in plain view.

…..

 **Hope you liked the chapter and that you'll keep reviewing.**

 **I know I took forever to post this, but I'd got a real bad case of writer's block that I couldn't write, but now that I have, I just had to post it immediately.**

 **Love,**

 **Quilldragon23746.**


	10. Rescue Mission

**RESCUE MISSION**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Neither of them belong to me.**

 **Previous:**

They'd each taken up different jobs- Hermione and Annabeth as salesladies in the town bookstore, while Draco, Harry and Blaise worked in the café opposite the bookstore. Nico and Ron as delivery guys for a pizza joint, and Percy and Grover in the departmental store. Not all of them had any vacancy, of course, but with a well-timed Confundus charm from Hermione, they were all employed and their employers were extremely impressed with what he assumed they were doing these days.

Soon enough, they were set to hide in plain view.

* * *

 **Chapter 9:**

 **2 months later:**

"Hey, guys." Hermione said tiredly as she flopped onto the sofa beside an equally exhausted Percy. "Did you find anything new?"

Draco, who was seated at the dining table and poring over various books detailing the wards at Malfoy Manor, snorted loudly. " _No,_ Hermione. I haven't found anything _new."_ He bit out through gritted teeth.

Hermione, who knew how much fear and pressure was hidden beneath the snappish tone, chose to ignore it, and instead walked right out of the flat to see if Mrs. Wilson needed any help with the cooking.

After nearly two months, and still no closer to finding the location of even one of the remaining horcruxes, they had decided to rescue Narcissa, Ruby and Lucius from the clutches of the empousai first, and then worry about finding the horcruxes. Of one thing, they sure were certain, and that was the fact that one of them had to be someplace that Voldemort placed value in. Harry was willing to bet that at least one was at Hogwarts, but considering their little escape stint from Hogwarts, they decided to check on it later. They also had other theories where the horcruxes could be, and Hermione had made a rather big pro-con list for each place.

Draco had suggested asking his parents when they rescued them, because of his father's once-present-loyalty for the Dark Lord, and suspected that his father might know something, even if not the whole picture.

Now, he was busy learning and relearning all the numerous wards and protections that had been put around Malfoy Manor, so they could enter the place and possibly save them without getting killed in the process. What he'd learned so far was that most of them consisted of blood wards, and only a Malfoy's blood ever opened them. Furthermore, once the wards were opened, all the other Malfoys would feel a tingle in their spines, alerting them to the intrusion. There was a different type of tingle for every Malfoy, and one would always know who had opened the wards.

The day and time of their forced entry into Malfoy Manor had been fixed three days from hence. They were to go to Malfoy Manor on Sunday, and it was now Thursday. Draco had been having a bad feeling about this and kept trying to convince the others that something was just _off._

However, since he was the only one getting the bad vibes, his protest had easily been overruled.

He was brought out of his miserable musings when a plate was banged in front of him and he looked up to see an irate Hermione, face flushed in anger and muttering curses under her breath. Barely glancing at him, she proceeded to bang everyone's plates on the table and then turned to glare ominously at Ron, who along with everyone else, had taken his seat at the table sometime during his musings.

Draco thought he could distinguish Hermione's harried mutterings which sounded suspiciously like 'bloody Weasley! Thinking he can force me to stay here when everyone goes to the Manor' and 'if I hear one more argument saying I'll be out of harm's way, I'll kick his skinny arse!'

It had become a daily occurrence since their plan had been chosen. Ron would wheedle Hermione to stay here while they went to the Manor and it would be better for her as she wouldn't put into danger. He hadn't, of course, dared to say it to Annabeth again, after his brief stint as a weasel, courtesy of Annabeth's transfiguration spell. Hermione, for her part, had been doing a commendable job of reigning in her temper, and not taking a leaf out of Annabeth's book.

They had their dinner in a tense silence, Hermione shooting glares Ron's way every two minutes, and then went into a fitful sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

Sunday night had come too fast, according to Draco. After a hearty meal and a cheerful goodnight from Mrs. Wilson, the teens began to set their plans into motion. They were up at ungodly hours going through their plans again and again until they had been drilled into their brains, and even though now, their brains wanted them to catch up on the sleep they'd lost, they quickly shook their heads to rid themselves of this thought.

Finally, the time had come. Hermione grabbed hold of Harry, Ron and Grover and quickly, thinking about what Draco had asked her to, apparated to Malfoy Manor. Draco soon followed with Annabeth, Percy and Nico. Blaise apparated once he was sure they'd all gone. He'd been waiting for Hermione, in case she apparated to a different area and had to come back to their flat to retrace her path.

Soon enough, they were all standing in front of what appeared to be a barren area of land. There was not one tree to be seen for miles. Hermione looked quizzically at Draco, and he hastened to explain.

"It is protected by the Fidelius charm. See, what the charm does is-" he was cut off by Hermione who said that she knew what it was.

"Oh, alright, then. Just think, Draco's home is Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire, England."

Immediately, wrought iron gates sprung up from the ground, nearly catching Ron's chin. Draco, without wasting any time, cut a small slit in his palm with the butter knife he'd brought, and dropped his blood onto the gates. As soon as he'd done this, the gates opened wide, and they all followed inside. Draco knew his parents had been alerted to his arrival, he'd felt the tingle that had gone up his spine, but he only hoped that they wouldn't come running to him, no doubt having been informed of his 'disappearance' by the Headmaster.

Luckily, no such thing happened, and their essentially forced entry remained uneventful. Hermione had tactfully disillusioned them and they went on, now invisible. They followed the lane to its end.

(This description is taken from Harry Potter wikia)

They turned right, into a wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond.

A handsome house grew out of the darkness at the ends of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge, the sounds of a fountain could be heard.

(End of Harry Potter wikia description).

Soon enough, they reached the far wall of the manor, completely undetected. Opening her backpack with a snap, Annabeth removed a rather long rope, and with precise aim, managed to lasso it to one of the sills of a window thirty feet above ground.

They all carefully climbed the rope, Hermione letting out small squeaks as she gained height, and then they were all standing in a long corridor, numerous portraits glancing suspiciously in their general direction.

"Well, we're here." Percy whispered. "Draco, where to now?"

"Straight to the dungeons I say."

The voice that spoke definitlley didn't belong to any of them. It was a rich, silky baritone that spoke more than the words it uttered. Hermione, realising that she could see each of them, surmised that her disillusionment charm wouldn't work in the manor and that they'd been caught even befor they'd spent two minutes in the manor.

They gulped visibly, turning around to face the person with barely suppressed fear.

Now what?

* * *

 **Hey, guys. So, this was the 9** **th** **chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it.**

 **Please R &R. **

**Until next time….**


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